Pubs of Youngstown

by Lee Boyle

Holes in the wall
hold kids, funny looks,
chilly mugs in knuckles,
silly machines, unspoken
desires, blocked paths,
their whole lives shoot like
stars across the wood floors.

I can’t sway right.  A swing
hat doesn’t work on me, young
in entombed gloom.

I think I will go

out to the alley, joining
abandoned stairwells,
gazing up through ceilings
into the dark.


Lee Boyle, born in Oregon, raised in Ohio, is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a published poet, and Kent State graduate with a Bachelor’s in English. He plays in an Ohio-based band, Third Class, makes comedy sketches online in Bull Skit Productions, and works as a Delivery Driver. He comes from a group of friends and family with a background and appreciation for Liberal Arts. He resides in Columbiana, Ohio, with his wife who works as a Labor And Delivery Nurse.