Ed Ochester Presents a Poem by Russell Edson

“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.

             Very good, 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 

American Poetry Now, edited by Ed Ochester, features poems by Russell Edson, and many others from the Pitt Poetry Series.