Between the Pages

We fit together
between the pages
of a ten pound art book
where we pressed a red rose
I stole for you
from a neighbor’s garden
until that night you didn’t come home
until morning
and smelled like him
and probably tasted like him too

when I asked where you’d been
you said “you know”
and I did

I grabbed that book
flipped it open
and seized that dried
heart shaped thing
and shredded it
threw it in your face
and flakes of it fell
like fat red snowflakes
all over the kitchen counter

you cursed at me and said
“Don’t make a mess!”
but that was all

you swept up the dust
and debris
as I watched
as defeated
as any dead man
could be

 

Brian Rihlmann was born in NJ, and currently lives in Reno, NV. He writes mostly semi autobiographical, confessional free verse. Folk poetry…for folks. He has been published in Constellate Magazine, Poppy Road Review, The Rye Whiskey Review and has an upcoming piece in The American Journal Of Poetry.

Luis Lázaro Tijerina was born in Salina, Kansas. Mr. Tijerina has a Master of Art degree in history, concentration being military history and diplomacy. He is a published author of military theory, short stories, essays and poetry. Mr. Tijerina resides in Vermont.