“Russell Edson is the dean of American prose poets, the
irrepressible and irresistible author of surreal fables, an American Aesop.”
—Ed Ochester
The Alfresco Moment
A butler
asks, will Madam be having her morning coffee alfresco?
If you would be so kind as to lift
me out of my bed to the veranda would be more than willing to imbibe coffee alfresco.
Shall I ask
the Master to join the Madam for coffee alfresco?
But my
nightgown’s so sheer he might see my pubic delta alfresco. And being a woman of wealth I have the loins of a goddess. While
you, being but a lowly servant, have the loins of a child’s teddy bear. Yes,
have the Master join the alfresco moment. He might just as well be informed of my
pubic delta,it’s not a state secret. Besides, he carries an organ worthy
of a bull. While you,being but a lowly servant, have the loins of a caterpillar.
Madam . . .
— Russell Edson
“The Alfresco Moment” from The Tormented Mirror
$12.95 • 96 pp. © 2001 University of Pittsburgh Press
Forthcoming (March 2009) by
Russell Edson from the Pitt Poetry Series: See Jack
Series.