By Alex Stolis
in a cut-out dress
tabs wrapped
around her waist
cold flat sun
against her
cardboard skin
a skirt that slides on
the impermanence
of it all
an empty purse
a pillbox hat
she doesn’t feel
like Jackie O
can’t feel
the ring on her finger
Rob’s hand is cold
can’t hold her
can’t let go
of his briefcase
NYC skyline looms
watercolored skyscrapers
a pastel summer
8mm movie
this world is real
in an unreal dream
-like way and she
wants to scream
wants to scratch
her way back home
to the beginning
before the beginning
when the world
was round and blood
coursed through her.
About the Author:
Alex Stolis has had poems published in numerous journals. Two full length collections Pop. 1280, and John Berryman Died Here were released by Cyberwit and available on Amazon. His work has previously appeared or is forthcoming in Piker’s Press, Ekphrastic Review, Louisiana Literature Review, Burningwood Literary Journal, and Star 82 Review. His chapbook, Postcards from the Knife-Thrower’s Wife, was released by Louisiana Literature Press in 2024, RIP Winston Smith from Alien Buddha Press 2024, and The Hum of Geometry; The Music of Spheres, 2024 by Bottlecap Press. He lives in upstate New York with his partner, poet Catherine Arra.