The Other Belfast
Luciana Arbus-Scandiffio
We are in it
and we are
arm wrestling
Yes we want
butter on the roll
I feel something icky
simmer
behind my sunglasses
I hold it
until it dissolves
like water
under a very hot bridge
I always wanted
a sister city
You always wanted
a pet frog
You ask me what was it like
being an only child
I crack into my lobster’s shell
while wearing this tiny bib
To me sprinkles look
like the grips
on hospital socks
(That’s my answer)
So we’re driving and usually
I am overcome with grief
in towns that share a name
with towns that are more famous
but in Belfast
you lift my arm
through the sunroof
and suddenly the sky
becomes a bright
trampoline
and we are
arm wrestling
Yes we want
butter on the roll
I feel something icky
simmer
behind my sunglasses
I hold it
until it dissolves
like water
under a very hot bridge
I always wanted
a sister city
You always wanted
a pet frog
You ask me what was it like
being an only child
I crack into my lobster’s shell
while wearing this tiny bib
To me sprinkles look
like the grips
on hospital socks
(That’s my answer)
So we’re driving and usually
I am overcome with grief
in towns that share a name
with towns that are more famous
but in Belfast
you lift my arm
through the sunroof
and suddenly the sky
becomes a bright
trampoline
Luciana Arbus-Scandiffio is a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, TX. Luci has two lesbian moms, and is originally from New Jersey.