Alex Stolis
Mary Tyler Moore dyes her hair blonde
wants to look dangerous; Barbara Stanwyck
-Double Indemnity-femme fatale - cool.
She lives in a bright guilty world, rich,
rare, savage strange.
Imagines being called dame, slapping Rob
across the face, knowing it turns him on.
She gets to hell in her own way, chooses
her own circle; the shape of death
is a shadow cast by her embrace,
a noir moon burns bright, street lamp
flickers her awake. This babe means business;
the gun’s in her hand, the money’s in the bank;
she’s one dead-end alley away from freedom.
I’m frozen wonderstruck and cold-irons bound.
Mary Tyler Moore doesn’t tell Rob she fakes her orgasms
he’s sensitive in a way only a man can be.
She hates to make him feel less than.
He rolls over to sleep;
she brings herself there. He’s a tall Greek
or Italian, Michelangelo sculpted bad boy,
connected, dangerous;
his sole desire to give her pleasure.
Closing her eyes, she looks into his, drifts
away on the Ionian Sea.
She wakes in her own bed. 5:30AM
rise and shine bethehappyhousewife time,
put a flawless Good Housekeeping© breakfast
on the table. There’s an obligatory thanks honey
peck on the cheek. She clears the dishes, pours
a cup of coffee, a secret smile follows him out.
Alex Stolis lives in Minneapolis; he has had poems published in numerous journals. Two full length collections, Pop. 1280and John Berryman Died Here, were released by Cyberwit and are available on Amazon. His work has previously appeared or is forthcoming in Piker’s Press, Ekphrastic Review, One Art Poetry, Black Moon Magazine, and Star 82 Review. His chapbooks include Postcards from the Knife-Thrower's Wife, (Louisiana Literature Press, 2024), RIP Winston Smith (Alien Buddha Press, 2024), and The Hum of Geometry; The Music of Spheres (Bottlecap Press, 2024).
