Gifts of the South, and: Birmingham

Abstract

Gifts of the South, and: Birmingham Christopher Petrucelli (bio) GIFTS OF THE SOUTH An Eclipse The moon, redlike fat drippingfrom the porterhouseside of the T-Bone,an American Godin its own rites.Beef moon, nurturingour ebb and flowwith hands that kneadus to tendernessand umami. Then,a cleanse, clean as ginstraight up tasting likeclear night sky. A Supercell I thought it too muchto cull storms, but flailedhail that punctured metalrooftops. I spun windwith my wantinginto the fabric of air.In that brief hourof power outage, a momentto rest under blue stars. [End Page 78] A Meteor Shower Dust flung by the BigDipper, Ursa Major,radiance at Camelopardalis.The storm gifted twometeors the size of fireflies—fat, slow and glowingover Tennessee, whilethe rest of the humblescatter lit black grassin rolling foothills of Appalachia. A Pastime Moonshine—a mashof corn and taste of dirt.My home in glass diorama,soon to be an empty vessel.I tilt back my headimpossibly far until southernroots set fire to mythroat and make stillthe sounds of chords. [End Page 79] BIRMINGHAM Vulcan rises from the black top.Both hands forming the other,fingers work loose pig iron into arms. The Buick, rusted and scraped, rattles down I-65 where the rolling hills level out like a gasping bellow. The hands squeeze, workwhite-hot metal and mold legsto torso with scratches and scores. On 5th Avenue I had my first taste of deep south, the air so wet it became waterfire—throat and skin scorched. [End Page 80] Hammer to the ground, spear to sky,knees bleeding with slag, Vulcanstands above Red Mountain. That night I saw Charon in the hot mist paddling over the bar, his boat made more clear with each drag of a cigarette, each blow of smoke. [End Page 81] Christopher Petrucelli Christopher Petrucelli is a graduate student at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and an associate poetry editor at Stirring a Literary collection. His poetry has appeared in Connotation Press, Rappahannock Review, Still: The Journal, and elsewhere. His chapbook, Action at a Distance, is available from UIndy’s Etchings Press. Copyright © 2016 Berea College