Ron Riekki

During the war

overseas
I went to the chapel
and sat there.
I didn’t pray.
I didn’t believe.
I just wanted to be surrounded
by something that didn’t feel
like war.
And there was Jesus
up there
in front of me
being tortured.
And you couldn’t let him down
because he was made of wood.
You’d have to destroy him
to do it.
This holy Pinocchio.
And they’d come in
with hammers
if they found you
trying to chop down Jesus.
I looked at him.
He looked into nothingness.

We were doing bombings.

It was far enough away so that I didn’t hear it.

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Ron Riekki has been awarded a 2014 Michigan Notable Book, 2015 The Best Small Fictions, 2016 Shenandoah Fiction Prize, 2016 IPPY Award, 2019 Red Rock Film Fest Award, 2019 Best of the Net finalist, 2019 Très Court International Film Festival Audience Award and Grand Prix, 2020 Dracula Film Festival Vladutz Trophy, 2020 Rhysling Anthology inclusion, and 2022 Pushcart Prize. Right now, Riekki’s listening to Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger.”

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