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.

Shame

I’m thirteen and quite the reader.
But I’m also thirteen.
My bookcase is full of classics,
a few not so classic here and there.

Dad comes in and we chat
before he starts to innocently
gaze at my literary life,
row after paperback row.

I’m a little anxious as I watch him
finger absently, but not absently enough,
the well-worn spines,
putting me on edge

And just my luck, his fingers halt
at “The Man From Orgy.”
He flips it open, scans a few
lubricious lines

and says “Good book?”
before slipping from my library.