Starting Over in Elgin
Jeffrey Alfier This was all I could expect today: a cold light draping my shoulders in the small hours as I left my flat on Greyfriars. Alleys and side streets deep-rooted to a solitude I never shake, like the women I do, names I barely recall now-- the latest a widow up north in Lossiemouth. I ambled down North Port, where months ago I’d bet my last horse. On to the town center, a High Street newsagent, shoppers whose faces I hid among before taking to the bar at White Horse Inn, to join my small crowd riding the crest of their laughter. The barkeep’s a wary optimist, her barometer always reading fair, even when she shows the last man out the door, which might’ve been me this evening. So here I am, at the eleventh bell, reversing my route home, a withering routine you’d think varies as little as a dancer in a glitter dome. This late at night, going home is easy. And look: a young woman I’ve never seen gazes from where she leans against an open window above a shuttered jeweler. The soft music from her radio could sure make someone dream of kissing tonight. |
About the author:
Jeffrey Alfier won the 2014 Kithara Book Prize for his poetry collection, Idyll for a Vanishing River (Glass Lyre Press, 2013). He is also author The Storm Petrel – Ireland Poems (Grayson Books, 2014). His work has appeared recently in Spoon River Poetry Review, Poetry Ireland Review, and The MacGuffin. |
