Fidelity by Brian Rihlmann

It seems so far away now
that place where I once stood and 
peered out like the beam
of a lighthouse 
over an ocean of possibility 
back when I knew 
that out there somewhere 
among all those faces
was love and happiness 


there’d be hand-in-hand walks 
through woods and gardens
and along rocky shores
there’d be days of 
shared laughter or tears
nights of too much wine
of passion and pillow talk
that would never end
because there was 
always more to say
and we needed to say it—
we couldn’t not tell each other
these things 
or we would die


and I had it....didn’t I?
yes...I’m sure I did
though it’s faded now
but I remember it
as a high unlike others
longer lasting 
and so too
are these lows
but they’ve never
let me down

About the Poet:

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.