Friday, April 15, 2016

The Relationship

(04/12/2016 National Poetry Month HitRECord challenge)

We lived together,
With separate bedrooms,
defined spaces for each of us,
a Personal Domain(™).

People thought I was strange.

He kicked me in the stomach,
And fantasized about 'teaching me a lesson', at a party,
When he thought I was going to embarrass him.
He told me later he was disappointed when he didn't get the chance.

Not strange at all.

He let me support him
Put him through school
Work seven days a week
Then got angry when I came home tired and made myself a drink.

No one thought that was strange.

I left behind dirty dishes while he was out of town,
I was too tired to clean them.
I vacuumed the carpet,
Paid the rent for a month after his scheduled return,
Just to be sure,
He didn't get hurt, or inconvenienced too much,
By my departure.

And I'm the strange one?
I'm the strange one.
Eager and afraid,
In the same breath and verse.

1 comment:

Sidra said...

I feel compelled to note for the benefit of those who recognize details from my own life in this poem - this is poetic license, here. Do not presume that art that includes some piece of a fact is the same as that fact or how I feel about that fact. You would be wrong to do so. This is art. And like any artist, I mine my life, yours, and every other thing, idea, fact, etc., that I may encounter or conceive, to create it.