On Tuesday There Was a Point When Bourbon Seemed Like a Good Breakfast Food By jim bourey

That was when morning newscasters started their phony emoting

about the cargo ship disaster at the Key Bridge. 

The day before, it was more political insanity and human 

trafficking. Sunday, they spoke about mourning for 

those people slaughtered by terrorists at a progressive

rock show playing in a Moscow theater.

Hard to write a pensive, idyllic poem

when all those sad and frightening noises 

pour into my quiet corner. So I dig

around for a sweet memory, the distraction

of a song, the “remember when” 

that might have been

real for a moment or two. 

Usually I can find something 

to cue up laughter or calmness.

Today it’s not working.

It’s not working at all.

And it’s time for breakfast.

jim bourey is a poet from the Adirondacks in NY.  He’s the author of three poetry books including Out There and Back Again (Cold River Press, 2023), The Distance Between Us (Cold River Press, 2020), and Silence, Interrupted (Broadkill River Press, 2015). He is co-author with Linda Blaskey of Season of Harvest (Pond Road Press, 2022). His work has appeared in numerous journals in print and online. Many of his poems have also appeared in a variety of anthologies. He currently runs a poetry reading series in Malone, NY. He is an associate editor at The Broadkill Review.