Rebecca Dietrich
Borrowed Time
i trace the fresh scar on your
groin i remember the first
night i lay next to you my
head against your chest i
counted the years on your
face gathering inside you
like snow piling outside our
window i thought my love
was a warm blanket against
your doubt but it was no
match for the scalpel like a
child you crawl into my lap
your head against my thigh
black hair curls through my
fingertips remember when
we were friends afraid to
cross the line your hands
shook until i held them
nothing will hurt you here my
love there is no tomorrow
only this half-light between us
Not Yours Anymore
i drove past your house on my
way home from work your honda
wasn't there i assumed you
weren't either during covid i’d
walk to your house we talked on
your roof overlooking ocean city
you worried about your mom how
you become an orphan in middle
age i saw her obit last week i
didn’t stop by i kept driving this
year would have been our tenth
anniversary zoey showed me a
photo of you you were wearing
a wedding ring you said you'd
never hurt me has it been that
long i met someone he wants
to marry me i’m not asking your
blessing you sure didn’t i want you
to know i remember i remember
Rebecca Dietrich is a poet from the Jersey Shore. She is the author of Under the Stars of Turtle Island (Wayfarer Books, 2025) and On Colonized Ground (Alien Buddha Press, 2024). Dietrich is a candidate for the MFA in Creative Writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts. info at P&W