I’ll Be Right Back by Brian Rihlmann

I’ll Be Right Back

because I have swallowed much anger
and know what it is to walk through life
with those hot coals burning my throat

any man who comes to me
with his hand wrapped in a bloody towel
his knuckles impaled by shards of glass

will not be asked anything
rhetorical or absurd, such as--
“why’d ya do that?”

but may sit at my table
while I get the tweezers
and the bandages

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Brian Rihlmann was born in New Jersey and currently resides in Reno, Nevada. He writes free verse poetry, and has been published in The Blue Nib, The American Journal of Poetry, Cajun Mutt Press, The Rye Whiskey Review, and others. His first poetry collection, “Ordinary Trauma,” (2019) was published by Alien Buddha Press.

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