Two Poems from Aleathia Drehmer

Descendants of Centum Languages


Tears painted my cheek
and then your shoulder
as we listened to the wind
rap against the glass,
repeatedly, begging to come in.

You whispered,
Don’t cry.




False Dreams of a Nightingale


People move in and out of tables
around us, each ordering plates of eggs
and toast. The smell of pancakes with
maple syrup is sickly sweet after
long hours in the ER, saving lives.

Both of us sit there
in an abbreviated second wind,
the years showing on her face
as I am sure they also do on mine
with all the losses we cannot forget.

There are tears over shared tragedies,
still fresh and painful,
that lead to ragged napkins
crumpled on the table amongst
the empty creamers and cold coffee.

She leaves the spot across from me
and I am suddenly aware of what this life
will become; one thankless night
after another, spanned over the decades
of my life, until I am here again

watching people drip egg on their shirts.
They make straws into geometric designs
in the awkward silences between bites
and I think to myself that I should have hugged her
when she told me her friend died.


Aleathia Drehmer is the editor of the print microzine Durable Goods and the online flash fiction website, In Between Altered States. She has a shared collection of poetry with Dan Provost called "A Quiet Learning Curve" from Rank Stranger Press and a solo collection called "You Find Me Everywhere" from Propaganda Press. She lives in upstate New York with her amazingly funny daughter and her slightly odd cat, Carrot.
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