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 The Ekphrastic Review, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, 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.

The Way We Live Now

I binge the old-fashioned way
so at about eight in the evening
I’m feeling kind of carefree
and want a chat with a fellow imbiber.
But everyone is binge-watchers these days,
and before they turn on Vera or The Crown
or that old bore Father Brown,
what do they do? You know because
you do it, too. They turn off their phones!
And I’m left alone with a drink in my hand.
It’s the new “we’re having dinner,”
where politely answering a call is verboten.
I remember when the phone was in the kitchen
and my long-gone ma was in the living room
watching Queen For a Day or Doctor Kildare.
When she heard the ring she hauled herself
without protest, support hose and all,
out of her comfy armchair to answer the call.