Poetry by Brian Rihlmann

           ​Joseph Choi CC




​Lunchtime At The ATC
 
at the kids’ unit today
they sent a skinny
dark haired boy of about 13
to answer the door at lunchtime 
I handed off the trays
and as he took them he said--
Thank you, sir
No problem, I said
It’s pizza today
he smiled and then
I looked down and saw
the angry, purple 
vertical scar 
on his left wrist
four inches long
and as I drove the van
back toward the kitchen 
I thought—Jesus...
what kind of life
have you had, kid?
what did they do to you?
I was almost 10 years older
and I’d been in love
a half dozen times
and drunk a thousand 
before I even thought of doing
something like that



Brian Rihlmann lives in Reno, Nevada. His work has appeared in many magazines, including Chiron Review, The Main Street Rag, The American Journal Of Poetry, and New York Quarterly. He has authored three collections of poetry, most recently “A Screaming Place,” (2021) by Cajun Mutt Press. 
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