᠅
She wants an aquarium.
Can’t explain why.
Something about waves.
Some vision she had.
Her first kiss.
Billy, three years older.
He was 18, had a mustache.
It didn’t tickle.
She always felt landlocked.
Not quite pretty enough to be asked to the dance.
Not ugly enough to attract the mean girls.
Wore baggy clothes, covered herself like a bruise.
Failed math in 12th grade.
Almost missed graduation.
Stuffed a quarter ounce in her bra
Can’t explain why.
Something about waves.
Some vision she had.
Her first kiss.
Billy, three years older.
He was 18, had a mustache.
It didn’t tickle.
She always felt landlocked.
Not quite pretty enough to be asked to the dance.
Not ugly enough to attract the mean girls.
Wore baggy clothes, covered herself like a bruise.
Failed math in 12th grade.
Almost missed graduation.
Stuffed a quarter ounce in her bra
when Billy took her to see Van Halen.
Billy so stoned he forgot where he was.
I took her home.
Didn’t even try to hold her hand.
Said she looked like Chrissie Hynde.
I think she liked the comparison.
Gave me her number and a peck on the cheek.
Billy never called her again.
Someone said he joined the Navy.
Someone else said he moved to LA.
I’m afraid of water, barely learned to swim.
She wants an aquarium.
Wants to quit smoking.
To sit for hours in a movie theater.
Wants me to write her a poem.
To stop being the answer to her questions.
I tell her I’ll carry her in my back pocket.
Wrapped in cellophane.
I tell her she looks like Kim Addonizio.
I think she likes the comparison.
Billy so stoned he forgot where he was.
I took her home.
Didn’t even try to hold her hand.
Said she looked like Chrissie Hynde.
I think she liked the comparison.
Gave me her number and a peck on the cheek.
Billy never called her again.
Someone said he joined the Navy.
Someone else said he moved to LA.
I’m afraid of water, barely learned to swim.
She wants an aquarium.
Wants to quit smoking.
To sit for hours in a movie theater.
Wants me to write her a poem.
To stop being the answer to her questions.
I tell her I’ll carry her in my back pocket.
Wrapped in cellophane.
I tell her she looks like Kim Addonizio.
I think she likes the comparison.
᠅
Alex Stolis has had poems published in numerous journals. 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 Hudson Valley New York with his partner, poet Catherine Arra.