Dreiecksverhältnis
German for “Love triangle”
It sounded so much cooler in German,
so much more complicated.
And the geometry? Way more than three-sided.
First of all there was Linda’s cat, Gladstone,
who way preferred me to Andrew,
even if Linda had known Andrew longer
than she knew me.
Gladstone liked me better than Linda, too.
And I can’t even say I knew Andrew,
only knew about him, his existence,
the drama he and Linda had shared,
that he’d dumped her,
the way she’d eventually dump me,
getting back together with Andrew,
but only after Hikari and I’d become acquainted,
though not yet lovers.
And did I mention Penelope?
It’s not like she’d waited ten years
for Andrew’s return, spider-weaving patience,
ready to snare the fly.
But she was why Andrew dumped Linda
in the first place – before she dumped Andrew.
But yeah, there was an overlap,
a period of sorting out alliances,
clearing up the confusion,
who preferred to sleep with whom,
and eventually Linda and Andrew broke up
all over again anyway.
But Linda let me take Gladstone.
She didn’t like him anyway,
claimed to be allergic.
Charles Rammelkamp is Prose Editor for BrickHouse Books in Baltimore. A collection of persona poems and dramatic monologues involving burlesque stars, The Trapeze of Your Flesh, was published in 2025 by BlazeVOX Books. His collection, The Tao According to Calvin Coolidge, was recently published by Kelsay Books.
