Brunch, 2021

Katherine Hoerth

February 17, 2022

This lazy summer afternoon, we brunch

at some bougie restaurant downtown, 

something we haven’t done for far too long. 

We sit on the patio. I sip

a kale and apple tonic with some lemon

and lots of ice to quench that waking thirst

as the smell of fresh espresso wafts

out from the open door. The waitress hustles—

a full tray always in her hand, a smile

etched into her face. We ponder over

what to order, what to satisfy

a hunger that’s been quarantined for months,

a year, a day, a lifetime now it seems—

hand-braided challah toast with maple syrup,

barbacoa tacos with tortillas

made from corn that’s grown mere miles away,

steel-cut oats with marinated berries?

A cappuccino is a must, of course,

with frothy almond milk and local honey,

maybe a rose mimosa, too. 

Wrapped in June’s embrace, I could forget

how we teeter on the edge of peace—

until the waitress interrupts, her smile

shattering as she sets my platter down:

organic avocado toast on multigrain,

topped with siracha and a cage-free egg

that bursts and drowns the plate in golden yolk.

Katherine Hoerth is the author of four poetry collections, including Goddess Wears Cowboy Boots, which won the Helen C. Smith Prize from the Texas Institute of Letters in 2015. She is an Assistant Professor of English at Lamar University and Editor-in-Chief of Lamar University Literary Press. Her next poetry collection, Borderland Mujeres, will be released by SFAU Press.