Breach of Contract

She had a husband gone
a child to raise
and the new wife of an ex-husband
threatening to harm him—
when a new boyfriend announced
I’ll be dead by the time I’m 40,
42, tops, he promised
so she married the man
who would soon be deceased
except that he didn’t
and she is still annoyed that he did not die on time
she is even more annoyed that she stayed with him
ten years beyond his expiration date
and now she is applying for Social Security
learning that she can get an extra 
two hundred dollars if he is dead
but he is still alive, the bastard.

Raised in the slightly different and occasionally uncomprehending cultures of New Jersey, Virginia, England, Peter David Goodwin moved back to the U.S at 18, in pursuit of an egalitarian education, eventually settling in New York City. He worked in a variety of occupations while indulging his love for theatre, relishing the City’s vibrant chaos, but, starved for light, he removed himself to the Chesapeake Bay, appreciating its natural rhythms and slower seasons.

Artwork by Noor Althehli