| Chasing the American Dream Eastward Poem by Alex Stolis Published in Lily, April, 2006 There is not enough change left for the toll road and there is panic, flashing lights and sirens. A cough and hands shake lips tremble, then it is light red--orange then blue-- the dark blue of angst and regret. The lost phone number and broken promise--the seats are sticky the mirror crooked. The sweat smell in the back, stale breath one last thought of a lingering kiss and morning will drink the evening stars under the table and suffer no hangover. I don’t mind being alone--windows locked open, flat broke with a swollen voice waiting for a winged horse. ••••• Alex Stolis lives in Minneapolis and works as a Chemical Dependency Counselor. He quit writing for about ten years and began again in 1998. He has had poems published both on-line and in print. Chapbooks include Obsidian Butterflies (out of print); Drowning Ophelia; The Latest News From Home; Playing Cards With Houdini; Winter Solstice (a collection of poems written as a response to Suzanne Frischkorn’s Spring Tide); and The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup. Most recently he has been involved in Northography, a project conceived by his friend Michael Gause. He is grateful to his wife, Julie, who allows him time to write and puts up with his idiosyncrasies. |