I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

2 October 2014

The Uncoupling

I saw him off on the train.
We hugged and cried.
His mates were there too
to wave him goodbye. 

We were fools, they said
to our tears; we should stop
this nonsense. But we knew
it was too wrong to make right.

Well he always wanted
to go live in Sydney. And I
wanted peace, I suppose,
and also passion. And truth.

We got those things
but not with each other.
Still, we didn’t begin
with intention to stop.

And so we wept to separate.
Next time I saw him,
eighteen months later,
was in the divorce court.

After it was done, we had coffee,
he and I and the man who would be
my next husband. Then he walked away
without looking back, and left us.


31 Poems in 31 Days (from Poewar / Writer's Resource Center). Prompt: Change of Mind

8 comments:

  1. Wow you wrote a whole memoir in a short poem, or was it a novel.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps a short story, Connie. It turned out to be a very brief marriage!

      Delete
  2. Wow, I really felt this scene, I could see it all so clearly.

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  3. Yes. It is never the intention to separate and divorce, and wedding vows are moving. Recognizing it's over doesn't mean no tears.

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  4. Such emotion in this - "we didn't begin with intention to stop"

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    Replies
    1. I don't regret the decision, though. Continuing would have been a disaster.

      Delete

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