Everyone's Ex-Girlfriend
Everyone's ex-girlfriend keeps showing up.
She surfaces when I've only just relaxed,
when I let things be
soft. I recognize her because I've been her so well.
You have nothing to worry about,
he says. Why would I want someone
who tried so hard to hurt me?
And then the distracted look.
She used to scream at everyone,
was the first to walk out.
Everyone's ex-girlfriend
had sex with their good friends
during a phase.
Everyone's ex-girlfriend is always
meeting everyone late at night.
Busy girl. He says
Maybe I'll stop by after
and then calls from home.
I say Did you have a good time
and he says We've really grown apart.
But I can picture the tall bar stools.
You look great, they might
say to each other, shiny eyes. You always were
like that. Some things never change.
It's snowing! The snow is in their hair.
When he says It was wild to see someone
after so long, I hear Our skin was so cold.
Everyone says
I don't know who I am right now.
I feel like I haven't felt anything in a long time.
Alright, he says to her,
You're giving me a hard-on.
Really, she murmurs. She is so mean.
Her drink splashes around in her glass.
Touch it, he says.
-- Sarah Heller
from Realpolitik
Really good poem. Touching and sad, but also pretty, like a universal love affair: "The snow is in their hair." I can relate!
Posted by: Meliisa F. | August 28, 2008 at 12:58 AM
that was the worst poem i have ever heard. sorry but yeah that is stupid and the phrases just dont even work. they do say that practice makes perfect but damn. i guess keep working on it? is it a story or a rhyme poem or what? its like a book that makes no sense!
Posted by: kyle | September 03, 2008 at 02:58 PM
Come on, Kyle. Did you eat the wrong thing for breakfast today or what? This poem makes plenty of sense and is very touching -- and as a guy I am sympathetic to the guy point of view. Didn't this poem seem real to you?
Posted by: Casey Donovan | September 03, 2008 at 03:49 PM
Wow that Poem was horrible.!!!
Posted by: Saskia | November 22, 2008 at 01:22 PM
Please allow me to point out that criticism is constructive analysis. The two comments asserting the sub-par quality of this poem seems to me neither constructive nor analytic: what exactly is stupid, and what exactly didn't work? This is a creation of an artist who passed the test (as evidenced by that this poem is, in fact, published); plainly asserting "this poem is horrible" doesn't seem very effective in any regard. If the poem seemed horrible, perhaps the poet would like to know why it was horrible. If there is nothing to be pointed out, perhaps the poem isn't horrible.
Posted by: 501622731 | April 30, 2009 at 11:08 AM
I thought it was beautiful.
Posted by: Cornelius | May 01, 2009 at 12:56 PM