Ron Riekki
My loneliness is a hat full of hate that heats up theaters to burn in slow-
motion, and the PTSD therapist
tells me I can control my emotion
through motion, telling me I just
need to get up and move and I just
need and need and need and want
to not be alone, and I remember
in the military—they would tie
you to the fence, duct tape you,
leave you there, all alone, all
those mosquitoes, all those storm-
clouds, all alone, all this rain
on the horizon and all this rain
overhead, alone, and I'm still
tied to the fence, when I battled
to not be so alone. And in
church, I stare and stare at Jesus.
Bio
Ron Riekki has been awarded a Michigan Notable Book, The Best Small Fictions, Shenandoah Fiction Prize, IPPY Award, Red Rock Film Fest Award, Best of the Net finalist, Très Court International Film Festival Audience Award and Grand Prix, Dracula Film Festival Vladutz Trophy, Rhysling Anthology inclusion, and 2022 Pushcart Prize. Riekki co-edited The Many Lives of The Purge, which is a nominee for The Eiffel Award: The Year's Best Books on Film. Right now, Riekki's listening to Billy Strings' "Cabin Song," although it just ended and now Riekki's listening to Drahla's "Stimulus for Living."