When Miriam lost the baby
Craig was in my kitchen
leaving the ash too long
I finished his smokes for him

The day Heather called Tommy up
he asked me for a second opinion;
weeks before he pasted together her letters
into a makeshift memorial.
He'd laughed that maybe he'd make one of
all my notes that called him down to play, but
I would want my own wall.

Chris told me that he has decided
that I would be his girlfriend for the day;
we held hands as he drove.
In spaces of Evangeline's shifts, we talked about Mexico;
if I could save up and come along, could I do it in three months.

Chancey didn't mention the Tampa wife
until the second date;
when I told Sara that he kissed me,
she asked if I'd kissed him back,
and I quickly changed my story.

In couch cushion distances,
men speak their thoughts
while I think of something else inside.

Some embrace as they go,
some handshake,
these promises they hold for me
are too far away
from the woman I see
when I glance at the mirror across the room
looking for the lesson that went unlearned, somehow,
passed over me

like smoke between us on separate chairs
floating and never settling

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