Initiation by David Mihalyov

The older men look on
when I step onto the porch,
their faces flaunting iron stubble
from a weekend of not shaving.
One of them nods at my father,
who either nods back or doesn’t,
either way I’m handed a can of beer,
a baptism of sorts into the fraternity
of those wrestling with the waking hours.

It’s Sunday, wives and girlfriends
inside preparing food
as the men wait for the second half to begin.
Was this who I would become, drinking
my way through marriage, family, work?

I pull the tab and push it into the can,
taking a long swallow as several of the men
watch me. I watch them back, their knuckles
swollen and scarred, from fights
with machines or each other I don’t know.

One of them asks if I was going to the same factory
as them, with my father, and so many of my friends.
And I don’t talk about dreams of getting out.

Another round of beer, and I reach. My father
shakes his head no, as if this glance into
his world was enough, that if I stayed
I would not be able to leave.



David Mihalyov lives in Webster, NY, with his wife, two daughters, and beagle. His poems and short fiction have appeared in several journals, including Concho River Review, Dunes Review, Free State Review, New Plains Review, and San Pedro River Review. His first collection, A Safe Distance, was published by Main Street Rag Press in 2022.