Drink
BY PAIGE RIEHL
My classmate is making fun
of the way I’m drinking my Coke;
twenty-five years have passed and
still me in the bleachers alone, she
in cheerleading skirt and bright
makeup like Van Gogh’s palette.
There must be some correct method
for tipping the bottle, the perfect angle.
Her mimic assures me I must look
like a horse attempting to breastfeed.
I try to lip-read as she bends toward
the other cheerleader, their velvet smiles
bouncing around the noisy gym. Should I admit
I liked the arced design her nosebleed
left in the girls’ bathroom later? The moment
I envisioned I’d punched that straight
nose and felt retribution radiate through
my knuckles? My action + her blood =
Georgia O’Keeffe red on porcelain?
I no longer drink Coke, but still this
mental memento whenever I raise
a beer to my lips, this bitter burning.
My classmate is making fun
of the way I’m drinking my Coke;
twenty-five years have passed and
still me in the bleachers alone, she
in cheerleading skirt and bright
makeup like Van Gogh’s palette.
There must be some correct method
for tipping the bottle, the perfect angle.
Her mimic assures me I must look
like a horse attempting to breastfeed.
I try to lip-read as she bends toward
the other cheerleader, their velvet smiles
bouncing around the noisy gym. Should I admit
I liked the arced design her nosebleed
left in the girls’ bathroom later? The moment
I envisioned I’d punched that straight
nose and felt retribution radiate through
my knuckles? My action + her blood =
Georgia O’Keeffe red on porcelain?
I no longer drink Coke, but still this
mental memento whenever I raise
a beer to my lips, this bitter burning.
Paige Riehl’s poetry and prose has been published or is forthcoming in Meridian; the Saint Paul Almanac; South Dakota Review; Nimrod; the anthology Poetry City, USA; Blood Orange Review; Literary Bohemian; Word Riot; and more. Paige recently won first place in the 2011 Literal Latte Prize for Poetry. She also was a semi-finalist for the 2011 Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry sponsored by Nimrod as well as the 2011 River Styx International Poetry Contest. Paige was also a finalist for the 2011 Loft Mentor Series in Poetry in Minneapolis.