Brian Rihlmann lives and writes in Reno, Nevada. His work has appeared in many magazines, including The Rye Whiskey Review, Fearless, Heroin Love Songs, Chiron Review and The Main Street Rag. His latest poetry collection, “Night At My Throat,” (2020) was published by Pony One Dog Press
What The Fuck?
as I drift through the warehouse
on a Monday
putting a few things away
I hear the young men
talking about their weekends
and it’s what sports team
traded who
and how they beat
some new video game
and movies, TV shows…
they even talk
about politics
for christsakes!
I want to ask
how are your lives really?
got a girlfriend?
get laid this weekend?
and then shake them
when they say no
and ask
what the fuck
is wrong with you assholes?
there’s better ways
to murder time…
you should be out all night
getting drunk
and chasing pussy
every fuck
or parking lot blowjob
should be “the one”
and your heart
should wrestle with hers
and lose
you should show up on Monday
wearing your defeated souls
on your faces
but you guys
are smiling…
what the fuck?
Breaking On Through
my back has been fucked
for about a week
and this morning it was
especially stiff
I tried leaning to the left
and using my right hand as usual
but couldn’t quite reach…
I didn’t give up
because you’re never too old
to learn, right?
so I used my left hand instead
took about twice as many
sheets but I got it done
after a lot of grunting and cursing
of course then I looked
and there it was—
all over my middle finger
and beneath the nail
guess I’d really broken through
to the other side (so to speak)
and as I washed my hands
and the shitty water
swirled down the drain I thought—
what a lovely sneak peek
at my so-called golden years
F.N.G.
the poor gal who’s been saddled
with the new trainee
plops down a pan
caked with burnt scrambled eggs
and I look at it, ask—
How do you usually get this off?
Just soak it, or…?
However ya want! she yells
over her shoulder
as she waddles off
returns a moment later
and bangs a pot of oatmeal
like hardened cement down
on the stainless steel sink
and I swear she’s grinning
beneath that mask
because now she gets to
pawn all the shit jobs off
on the Fucking New Guy
and who wouldn’t love that?
