Morality Tale by Alec Solomita

Virtue crawls through his beard like 

lice, an apt accessory to the branches 

and banana peels in his composting biz.

My man! Reducing methane emissions

is just one sign of his beneficence.

Was a time we’d call him a know-it-all;

now we just eye him biking by, his

bins filled with rot, his smile a smirk.

I tend to hold a grudge till the eagle grins:

Dropped a buck once to an old teeter on a grate

and Mr. Man says, “You shouldn’t give them

money. There are better ways to give.

He’ll just spend it on booze.”

“Just?” 

I said. Stopped at the corner packie, 

procured a pint, sat down on the sidewalk

by my new dawg and shot the shit ’til dawn.

"Morality Tale" was published by the Galway Review in April of 2019.

Alec Solomita wrote his first story when he was 12. It was about senility, which should give you a bit of a character note. Since then, his stories and poems have appeared in many publications, including The Adirondack Review, The Southwest Review, The Galway Review, Algebra of Owls, The Blue Nib, and Bold+Italic. He was shortlisted by the Bridport Prize and the Southword Journal. He was named a finalist by the Noctua Review. His poetry chapbook, “Do Not Forsake Me,” was published in 2017. He lives in Massachusetts.