Alec Solomita’s fiction has appeared in the Southwest Review, The Mississippi Review, Southword Journal, and The Drum (audio), among other publications. He was shortlisted by the Bridport Prize and Southword Journal, and named a finalist by the Noctua Review. His poetry has appeared (or is forthcoming) in Anti-Heroin Chic, FourXFour, The Galway Review, Bold + Italic, The Blue Nib, Red Dirt Forum, and elsewhere. His chapbook, “Do Not Forsake Me,” was published in 2017 and is still available on Amazon. He lives in Massachusetts, USA.

I Would Hope

I would hope the old ones on my street
with their over-priced three-stories
and their meager incomes
find somebody to love as Slick
suggested when they were young,
bell-bottomed, and concupiscent.
But I don’t think many do, not the
mean mean man who sweeps the sidewalk
at his home’s front, nor the Haitian
who scrimps and saves and sends
her small money back home, not
the old white guy who always greets
me with “Life goes on,” smiling
as if it does. And I’m sure not
the pretty old lady whose lights
go on and off even in the dead of night.

I would hope the incandescent children
riding scooters down our sloped street
in summer and sleds in winter
don’t get made fun of at school
and can find friends to show them
they are here. I would hope that
they don’t have sex too early
or too late and that their single
parent fixes lunch for them before
going off to work, and finds a way
to greet them when they get home.