Asking The Question

written by: Brian Rihlmann

I couldn’t have told you, then
what it was...
what it was that drew me
to all of you

you might just as well
have asked a newborn
his first impression
of the outside world

I can only guess at it now
who, or what it was I sought
in your sundry eyes and guises

what flame
what shadow
what part of this dance
escapes our understanding?

we ask the question many ways
clutching the long tresses of the void
with thoughts and words
with eyes and fingertips
with ears, lips, and tongue
with every footstep, breath, and heartbeat
until we’re planted back in the ground

and after—
the grass that covers us
will ask the wind
and the wind will answer
with a hiss

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Brian Rihlmann

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.