The Man is Gone
So, the man is gone
She stacks her spine
Like Legos
A precarious tower.
Imaginary dragons
Slithering at the base.
A little princess
Popped.
So, the man is gone
I prop my chin up high
With toothpicks.
So, he never
loved me, so?
I grow a craving
Like a spiky cactus
In my liver for love.
So, the man is gone
She gathers children
Like firewood in her
Soft arms.
Whittles them down
Into clubs to beat him
Or beat her
Loneliness with.
So, the man is gone
It happened
Like the tide coming
For a sandcastle that
I loved with all my heart
And then
Tried to live my life in,
Stupid.
So, the man is gone
She collapses;
A butterfly wing,
Flicked.
A heap on a
Bathroom floor. Her
Lips emit a cry for him
Like a dog whistle.
So, the man is gone
I vow to never be a bridge
That bends.
Kiss his fingertips goodbye
Without crumbling
The desert in me roaring
And a little cactus
Aches.
So, the man is gone
I prayed so many nights
He’d go. And stay away.
But he’s threaded himself
Into her DNA
Coded himself
In her fabric.
I hear his footsteps return.
So, the man is gone
He left me too
I know the
Rattle of his door slam
Goodbye and how it shakes
Your frame.
I share your same
Bewilderment.
Artwork by Chantal Joffe