High School boyfriend & I Grad Night 1969
I married him... not once,TWICE!!
Thanks to a new blog I'm reading, The Alchemist's Pillow, I found the following poem which goes perfectly with my last post, "Notes on a Former Lover".
Ex-Boyfriends
They hang around, hitting on your friends
or else you never hear from them again.
They call when they're drunk, or finally get sober,
they're passing through town and want dinner,
they take your hand across the table, kiss you
when you come back from the bathroom.
They were your loves, your victims,
your good dogs or bad boys, and they're over
you now. one writes a book in which a woman
who sounds suspiciously like you
is the first to be sadistically dismembered
by a serial killer. They're getting married
and want you to be the first to know,
or they've been fired and need a loan,
their new girlfriend hates you,
they say they don't miss you but show up
in your dreams, calling to you from the shoeboxes
where they're buried in rows in your basement.
Some nights you find one floating into bed with you,
propped on an elbow, giving you a look
of fascination, a look that says I can't believe
I've found you. It's the same way
your current boyfriend gazed at you last night,
before he pulled the plug on the tiny white lights
above the bed, and moved against you in the dark
broken occasionally by the faint restless arcs
of headlights from the freeway's passing trucks,
the big rigs that travel and travel,
hauling their loads between cities, warehouses,
following the familiar routes of their loneliness.
or else you never hear from them again.
They call when they're drunk, or finally get sober,
they're passing through town and want dinner,
they take your hand across the table, kiss you
when you come back from the bathroom.
They were your loves, your victims,
your good dogs or bad boys, and they're over
you now. one writes a book in which a woman
who sounds suspiciously like you
is the first to be sadistically dismembered
by a serial killer. They're getting married
and want you to be the first to know,
or they've been fired and need a loan,
their new girlfriend hates you,
they say they don't miss you but show up
in your dreams, calling to you from the shoeboxes
where they're buried in rows in your basement.
Some nights you find one floating into bed with you,
propped on an elbow, giving you a look
of fascination, a look that says I can't believe
I've found you. It's the same way
your current boyfriend gazed at you last night,
before he pulled the plug on the tiny white lights
above the bed, and moved against you in the dark
broken occasionally by the faint restless arcs
of headlights from the freeway's passing trucks,
the big rigs that travel and travel,
hauling their loads between cities, warehouses,
following the familiar routes of their loneliness.
9 comments:
She nailed that one right on the head!
I've always wanted to gather all my diverse exes in one room, just to see what would happen.
Is that an evil thought?
Wow, does that ever trigger memories..some I don't want to bring up!
Wow! That's great...
I love this! Also like your locket!
I'm still friends with some old boyfriends, others disappeared and that is probably for the best.
There were a few close-to-home nudges in that one. I enjoyed it.
Stephanie: I tried to embed the audio player with Garrison Keillor reading the poem but it would not embed. I love his readings and this is a fun poem.
Reya: If I did that, my husband would probably only get along with one of them because they knew one another in high school. I cannot imagine the rest; such a diverse group.
RNSANE: I only remember the good ones now. :)
Shattered: glad you liked it. I pulled it from another blog who pulled it from Writer's Almanac. Love that feature on NPR.
HI Judy! Yes, I still wear that locket. Bought it when I was 17. It's my then boyfriend, now hubby and I cut from a photo taken at Disneyland on my grad night.
Deborah: You have been so attentive lately. Thank you!
"their loneliness": "won't you please come back to me?"
Have finished the Julia Child bio. I want a husband just like Paul!!!!
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