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. His poetry has appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, The Galway Review, Bold + Italic, Litbreak, Subterranean Blue Poetry, The Blue Nib, Red Dirt Forum, and elsewhere. His chapbook, “Do Not Forsake Me,” was published in 2017 and is still available at Finishing Line Press and Amazon. His first full-length book of poetry was published last April by Kelsay Press. He’s working on another. He lives in Massachusetts.

Asylum

When I reached the asylum
and they searched through my things
and took away my keys
and gave me a breathalyzer,

I started to wonder,
“Is this the place for me?”
My sister thought so.
Emily and Colleen agreed,

But when I met one of the docs,
I began to have real doubts.
His eyebrows made Mark Twain’s
look like pencil sketches.

Gray, luxuriant, untended,
the hairiest of caterpillars.
And when he said, “Come in.
Make yourself homely,”

my misgivings rocketed.
I thought perhaps he was
a patient posing as a medic,
although in time, he seemed sane

enough, asking me personal
questions, intimate even,
as doctors are prone to do.
He listened, nodding, for an hour.

Until I was — not for the first time —
bored to death by my own story,
until he was done clicking notes,
until I was done staring at his brows,

when a counselor knocked
and said it was time for me
to take the tour of my new digs:
this clean, bright renovation

of an enormous old monastery.
We walked down long, wide aisles.
Lights above us turned on at our approach
and then off when we had passed.

I loved my room, a monk’s cell,
one bed, hard mattress, small sink
and mirror, modest bureau,
lush view of golden green trees,

“Well, this might not be too bad.”
I reassured myself, shaking hands
with the counselor
who left me to unpack.

Instead, I blessed myself in honor
of the ancient monks, fell back
onto the hard, narrow mattress,
adjusted my pillow, and slept.