Let’s Talk By Alec Solomita

Let’s talk.

Let’s talk about

the difference between

“I want a drink” and

“I need a drink”

I want a drink

is about desire.

I need a drink

expresses a sine qua non.

When I was a teenager

I wanted a drink.

In my twenties 

I wanted a few.

In my thirties

I preferred several.

That went on for

a decade or so

while something

slowly altered.

A yearning became a craving;

a craving became a need,

until the morning came

when I could handle

a handle of mead.

Alec Solomita is a writer working in the Boston area. His fiction has appeared in

the Southwest Review, The Mississippi Review, Southword Journal, among other

publications. He was shortlisted by the Bridport Prize and Southword Journal. His poetry

has appeared in Poetica, MockingHeart Journal, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, 

The Galway Review, and elsewhere, including several anthologies. His poetry

chapbook “Do Not Forsake Me,” was published in 2017. His full-length poetry book,

“Hard To Be a Hero,” was released by Kelsay Books in the spring of 2021. He is working on a new book.