He told her
He’d always love her
But he lied
Tag: Divorce
Scene From A Divorce
Here
In a historic deep-south town
Just past the Travel Agency
In an old wooden building
Lovingly restored
He sat
Waiting to meet a lawyer
The 10 AM sun’s rays
Were dancing shimmers off the river
Across the brick road
Through the gauzy white drapes
As the room
Freckled in sunlight
And the white-beige of the fresh paint
And green cushions
Spoke of southern comfort —
But not the drinking kind —
He thought deeply and slowly
Of how it came to this
It was never supposed
To come to this
And his attorney
A thirty-something
Businesslike female
Emerged from her office
To get her first glimpse of
Her new client
As a single tear
Made its way
Slowly
Down the right side
Of his face
To share is human:
heart of ice
how is it that she missed his heart of ice,
or that he was a soulless man at heart?
the way he’s treated her is far from nice,
and now she sees what he’s been from the start
for love, to her, was always walking fear;
abandonment, rejection, or much worse:
the time is coming soon for her last tear,
when into a new life she must immerse
it isn’t her, or heaven knows, “all men”:
he’s just a jerk, like he has always been
To share is human:
ReVisit
We built monuments to our arguments in this house
Broke through our mutual boredom by
Ripping into each other with senseless anger
Building sculptures from the shedded remains
Often from pieces of our skin and souls
The sound still reverberates here, even years later
You, unhappy in pretending you were straight
Me, miserable in never knowing why you were so unhappy
Once I knew, the relationship took the course it needed to
Now I’m happy
And you’re happier
But this empty room
Still smells
Like emotional blindness
To share is human:
Empty Nest, Redux
Daughter and grandson
Moving out today
For a place of their own
Divorce being what it is
It has been hard —
Even though, his young self will be here
Every weekday; still,
My wife is very sad
As her empty nest
Was temporarily refilled
Only to be “emptied” again —
For some loves don’t end
As easily
As marriages do
To share is human:
Making Believe
Video of children playing;
An exciting time of the year
Different ages, dressed in costumes —
Making believe for their filming mom and dad.
Children laughing, parents laughing;
All seeming so carefree
But the date
On the bottom of the screen
Is telling a different story —
Its really the parents
Who are making believe
At this point
The children have no idea,
The husband has no idea
A decision will be made,
And the laughter will fade away:
And that family
Won’t ever be one
Again
