Rebekah M Rykiel

My Report Card Is on the Fridge

I’m starting to remember not
in the way where I know the color
of my outfit or yours                I’m starting to remember

in the way                   your blade pressed my freckle
blue The metal a threat

but its rivalry It’s comparisons
of grades         or him and I at cookouts
with ribeyes                Catch the 20 before it hits the ground
and you get to keep it I’m starting to remember

not in the way leaves              turn brown in fall
but in the way                                     you tested your new bb gun
on me and an airsoft next to my head

                                     Is it an empty threat this time My closet door creaks
I’m starting to remember       not in the way green rocking chairs
belong in the basement but in the way

the crack in the bathroom doorframe is too wide

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Rebekah M Rykiel is a fiction writer and poet from Maryland studying at Salisbury University. Her work appears in The Scarab, The Shore and Vernacular Press. She’s an assistant editor for Poet Lore and a poetry editor for 149 Review. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys watching movies and seeing her friends and family.