During a

very important business

meeting, I excuse myself

Excuse me They mock

I say in earnest. I walk

away – take the elevator down,

unbutton my blazer, find my

manila folder I keep hidden

behind the trash receptacle.

It contains the leaves

of my childhood. Buses

and bills. Roads and

nights. Smells of

maple syrup and bread,

chili chicken and pinesol,

clay, gasoline.

I can be a businessman and

keep this here a secret. I know

I didn’t waste my life.

Alejandro Ruiz del Sol is a Floridian who is thriving as an MFA candidate at New Mexico State University, where he is Assistant Poetry Editor for Puerto del Sol. He has been previously published in Barren Magazine and The Shore Poetry.