A closed door with a goodbye
Is easier to accept
Than
One abruptly slamming
In your face.

You left
I settled for
A one night stand
To inject novacaine
Into my broken heart
Instead
I was sedated
Against my will
While the parts of me
You loved
Were taken advantage of
And while she slept
The only thought
Running through
My drunken head
Was that
You were only
A block away
And I wished
You could feel
My pain
Like a beckoning call
To be my saving grace
Before I became something
I now hate.

The old man
With a handlebar mustache
And pipe in his hand
Has asked me
How I’ve been
Every day
Since your absence.

Too chipper to be Death
Too rugged for Hope
He mentions
The pain in my eyes
Lessens each week
And offers a ****
To help me cope.

I explain,

“It’s not the thought of her
That brings me sorrow
But knowing that tomorrow
I’ll be one step closer
To forgetting her laugh
Or how she felt
In my hands.”

He casually says back,

“I don’t think it’s fair
For your heart
On the mend
To relive a love
Abandoned
When she left
With the wind.”

Same time tomorrow
Old friend.

A cheesy pickup line
Grand parade of flattery
You’re first in line
Cute
Funny
Surprise, I’m here
I can’t stay long

How many kisses?
I lost count

Sweets
You’re too good for me
I’m glad you’re in my life
You make me happy
I’m not seeing anyone else
It’s not possible for me to stop liking you
I’m just really busy*

All of the things you said and did
Run around my head
Like a haunted carousel
I’m reluctant to ride again.
I mute my heartbreak by reminiscing
In betweens of our beginning and end.

Then I think

You couldn’t remember the color of my eyes,
Even if you were staring right at them.
I remember every smile you cracked,
And the way your half naked body danced.
Saving a list of your favorite things,
Should I ever forget.

(I never did.)

My thief in broad daylight,
How I adored your lies.
Your someone new
Was the reason you stopped making time,
And I wasn’t worth a poem
Or an apology,
Much less a goodbye.

So, this is mine.

Our new car smell wore off
So you put my love up for sale
And sold me
To the lowest bidder.

Emeralds in your eyes
Are now a dying Gatsby light
My heart knew no boundaries
Until you left
Now I’m staring at
Your white picket fence
Outside looking in
Unwelcome to the family
You created on a whim.
There’s nothing different
I could have done
To make you mine
Your words change
Like a ticking clock
And your muted actions
Feel like falling
Face first on rocks
This is not
The end for me
I’ll find love greater than
Your guilted misery
And I will try
To let these feelings die
Without playing I spy
A liar in disguise.

You were my umbrella.
Then you sided with the rain.