Brian Rihlmann

I’LL NEVER TELL

There’s a place on the river

just east of town,

with railroad tracks on one side

and a freeway on the other.

If you walk past the gate

with the no trespassing sign

and down a dirt road,

you’ll find a narrow trail

through the scrub.

It leads to a spot

among the willows,

where a pine covered ridge

stands between you

and the jake brake rattle

of eighteen wheelers

coasting down the mountain.

The river’s roar

as it tumbles through the canyon

is all you hear,

though the freeway

is only a hundred yards away.

A train thunders by

once in awhile,

then it’s just you

and the trees

and the river again.

Maybe a few lizards

sunning themselves

on water worn granite slabs

just like you,

and the darting birds

dogfighting above the

green and frothy flow.

The railroad owns it...

but it’s mine,

and I’ll never tell you

where it is.

Bio: Brian Rihlmann was born in NJ, and currently lives in Reno, NV. He writes mostly semi autobiographical, confessional free verse. Folk poetry...for folks. He has been published in The Rye Whiskey Review, Cajun Mutt Press, Alien Buddha Zine, Synchronized Chaos, Madness Muse Press and The American Journal Of Poetry.