Two Poems by Alex Stolis

by Alex Stolis

The Sun is Just Another Star in a Distant Galaxy

Summer was the best time to steal

candy from Inforzato’s, the burnouts

were part-time help.

We used the adrenaline to throttle

silence; our misdeeds, breadcrumbs

marking the path between being

in light or drowning in shadow.

Billy, Tom, and I had five-speed

Schwinn Stingrays, banana seats

ape hanger handlebars

we were supercooluntouchable

we were cruel and exclusive

we were a drag

on our parents on the school

on the whole of a world

that owed us nothing and nothing

would ever change, not in a thousand

centuries of slow moving

we were on the lookout for some

-where to fall, someone to catch

us before we broke.

Ace High(ku)

Last call love notes on a bar napkin

i.

I’ll never

be the One

for you,

but could be

the one

for now.

ii.

We’re the only signs

of life, an echo

of breath, the moist

kiss of air on skin.

iii.

I’m no hero or criminal

in waiting,

anoint my bones with oil,

unmixed wine;

take me home,

lay me bare.