by Ahrend Torrey

I still prefer physical books. When I opened this one, Rose, from a private seller, there you both
were—To Paul, Love Always, Nanc—written in blue ink on the first page. I’ve never been to
Portland, Oregon, where this book shipped, nor have I stood on the bank of a remote river in the
Northwest, where rocks gleam with the manic of water, and the plump shadows of cottonwood.
But I love the image, and I imagine you both at this river, in the fresh scent of earth, laughing,
dancing with sentiments. The two of you. The warm taste of salt on your lips. The pressing of
them together before a summer storm rolls in. With a sudden weight

you are drenched;
the dance ends.

Hereby,
the book

is
sold.

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Ahrend Torrey is a poet and painter. He is a creative writing graduate from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. When he is not writing, or teaching English in New Orleans, he enjoys the simpler things in life, like walking around the city with his partner, Jonathan, and their two rat terriers Dichter and Dova. Forthcoming in 2018, his work will appear in West Trade Review (Johnson & Wales University), Soundings East (Salem State University), and Columbia College Literary Review.