Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Ouch: A poem about heartbreak

OUCH

Life is like a collage
Full of torn and tattered bits
The piece of my heart that you stole from me
Your rages and your fits

I wasn’t the only one you hurt you know
There was that four letter word you call ‘wife’
I guess you weren’t planning to tell me about her
Your secret other life

Oh and what about your daughter
She’s only four or five
She won’t know why mommy is crying
While you go out for a drive

Well now I’m glad you dumped me
Biggest favor you could have done
But did you think I wouldn’t know
That now you and my best friend are having fun?

Oh I told her you were married
This best friend of mine
She said I was a liar
And her and you were doing fine

More Than Words

The whole universe lives in the library

Countries real and imaginary

Peoples mundane and unusual

All the food you could ever hope to consume in a lifetime

And you

I found you in the stacks on the third floor between botany and calligraphy

You seemed charming in your threadbare skirts

And tattered scarf

Your thick black rimmed cat's eyed glasses perched on your nose

You were fondling the spine of a book

Running your long fingertip from top to bottom

Then you gently pushed it back into line with the other books

And headed down the stairs

When I could no longer see the top of your head

I sidled over to have a look

"How to Build a Romantic Arboretum

Creating a garden that is as beautiful as you are."

I checked out the book to remind me of you

"Did you get anything good at the library?" my wife asked me.

"Just a book on gardening."