Young, Jake

United States, (contemporary)

RISING

The chicken contributes,
But the pig gives his all.
 — Howard Nemerov, “Bacon & Eggs”

  1.  
  2. Hogs roll outside in their dirt, kicking
  3. up clouds of dust; the hens strut
  4. and duck, pecking the ground in search
  5. of scattered grains, a morning
  6. ritual, not much different from his own
  7. slow start. In the cast-iron skillet
  8. on the stove bacon sizzles in its own fat.
  9. He’s careful not to spill the grease
  10. as he pours the drippings into an empty beer
  11. can, the lid cut off, kept in the fridge
  12. beside the egg carton. The pan placed back
  13. on the burner, the heat turned down
  14. low, he drops in two eggs that spit
  15. and hiss, and pours himself
  16. another cup of coffee. When he cuts into
  17. the yolk, it runs slowly, the way his muddled
  18. thoughts also slog this morning, bleeding
  19. sustenance into this routine
  20. that’s killing him. Compost
  21. bucket full again with onion skin and
  22. eggshells; that ripe smell calling fruit-
  23. flies from the ether. Creation is like that:
  24. what arises comes from what already was.
  25. We break a few eggs, enjoy what we can.
  26. He savors the bitter, the salt, and fat
  27. of it all, just as the day, all too soon,
  28. gives way to another empty plate
  29. scraped clean and stacked in the sink,
  30. smeared with yellow grease, staring back.

Editor’s Note:

See notes on the attribution of the poem Bacon & Eggs by Howard Nemerov here.

© Jake Young. Lost River Literary Magazine. Issue #1, Fall 2016.

About the Poet:

Jake Young, United States, (contemporary), is a poet, editor and Certified Specialist of Wine with the Society of Wine Educators. He is completing his PhD in English Literature with an emphasis in creative writing at the University of Missouri–Columbia.

Young’s first collection of poems is American Oak (2018). He has published in numerous journals, and his most recent work appears or is forthcoming in Miramar, Askew, Cloudbank, and The Hudson Review. In 2014, Jake attended the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. He also serves as the poetry editor for the Chicago Quarterly Review. [DES-10/19]

Additional information:

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