If I had a heart
it would go out to the woman
who will take my place
when I am done with you.
She will need a full
first aid kit on your first date.
To extract the glass shards
of me I have left in you.
You will talk of me
so much the sound of
my name will fire
darts into her chest.
In quieter intimate moments
she will see the hollow of your neck
your full soft lips
your muscular body.
And she will weep
at the thoughts of
how I may have touched you.
She will do for you
the things I did to you.
She will make promises
of things I could never do.
You will ease her mind
telling her of my drinking
my infidelity and violence.
She will say honey
she was a monster
you deserve me so much more.
And she will be right.
But my ghost will wail
in her dark nights.
She will notice your fear of darkness.
The way you look under the bed
and how you avoid
any place we went to.
And deep in her heart
she will know
that every corner of you.
is haunted by me