One Poem by Alec Solomita

 

Children

 

The boy whose father was pastor

of the church down from our sloping lawn

was a sensitive child; too tall

too soon, a gentle, dim giant

whom we tortured with taunts

 

“Lily-livered Lyman!”

because he asked us not

to play football in the churchyard.

And then one day under the giant, heart-carved beech

in the corner of the green

 

we watched as tough and cruel

Davey Post challenged Richard the lily-livered

to a fight. He might as well have been

a heavy punching bag,

Davey’s small, mean fists

 

making dents in the lumpy boy’s torso,

while we, docile and bloodthirsty

audience of four or five,

watched until Lyman started

to cry and Davey snorted “pussy.”

 

One of us had stolen a six-pack,

which we drank in celebration

of Davey’s triumph —

“Nunc est Bibendum!”

on the sidesteps of the church in the dark.

Alec Solomita is a writer and artist working in the Boston (USA) area. His fiction has appeared in the Southwest Review, The Mississippi Review, Southword Journal, and Peacock, among other publications. He was shortlisted by the Bridport Prize and Southword Journal. His poetry has appeared in Poetica, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Litbreak, Driftwood Press, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Galway Review, The Lake, and elsewhere, including several anthologies. His photographs and drawings can be found in Convivium, Fatal Flaw, Young Ravens Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, and other publications. He took the cover photo and designed the cover of his poetry chapbook, “Do Not Forsake Me,” which was published in 2017. His full-length poetry book “Hard To Be a Hero,” will be coming out in spring of next year.