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. His first full-length book of poetry, “Hard To Be a Hero,” was published  by Kelsay Press in 2021. Both can be found on Amazon. He’s just finished another, “Small Change.” He lives in Massachusetts.

Looking Glass

There comes a certain point
in the life of a poet when
he looks in the mirror
and sees an old man
(this is a “he his him” poem).
And that’s no surprise
if the aging bard gets
to age at all. But when
he is spurred by the image
to sit with a page and pen,
my advice is duck!
Not only has the rhyming
hourglass run out of luck,
he’s likely to get stuck
in a self-pitying funk;
Unless he’s got some humor
left, and then he’ll banter
about his own death
which, I’m afraid, is more irksome
than you might guess.