Sunday, February 7, 2010

Ex-Boyfriends by Kim Addonizio


Ex-Boyfriends
by Kim Addonizio

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.

From: What Is This Thing Called Love

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Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash. ~Leonard Cohen


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It is the job of poetry to clean up our word-clogged reality by creating silences around things. ~Stephen Mallarme

13 comments:

Linda S. Socha said...

Marian
Thank you for sharing this one. Incredibly ...on target...well done
Linda

Anonymous said...

You gave me a laugh, I can just imagine his poor face! I know though your hubby knows you love him and only joking. I do things like this to my hubby, he gets me back,lol!
Lovely to hear from you.
Hugs!

Julie

Marion said...

You're welcome, Linda. I can't get enough of Ms. Addonizio's poetry. I own all of her books and read them often. Blessings!

Karen said...

I'm laughing and not at the same time. This is great! Look at what I just wrote yesterday which I can't post because, well...you'll see! :-(

Old Boyfriends

Old boyfriends
Come to you on facebook,
Google you and read your life.

They think you’re still fifteen.

Old boyfriends
Tell your inbox
That you’re a ray of light.

They find your kids on flickr.

Old boyfriends
Tell their stories and marvel
That you let them get away.

They comment on your blog.

And when you go to bed
Beside your white-haired spouse,
You wonder, if he’s

Someone’s old boyfriend, too.

Marion said...

Yes, Julie-ann. For that reason I will never let my husband see that Mr. Bean video you posted. It might give him ideas. LOL! Thanks for the laugh. Blessings!

Karen, how synchronistic is that? Just too perfect. Your poem is as good as Ms. Addonizio's. Oh, I had an old high school boyfriend who I came in contact with a few years back at a reunion. It just totally blew my mind. He was a total FOX in high school and well, he looked like a ancient homeless bum when I saw him. LOL! I keep my husband because he tells me all the time I still look eighteen. Sigh. I know he sees me through the gauze of memory, but I still love it. Thanks so much for sharing your poem. Blessings!

Unspoken said...

Loved this!

RNSANE said...

I wish the ones from the past would just stay there!

Kelly said...

I've been an old married woman for a long time now, but back in the day....well, I can relate to a lot of these.

Fireblossom said...

What a great post. The poem is interesting. But what I really love are the two quotes about poetry. Wow!

PS--I read "Good Omens" years and years ago, and enjoyed it.

Unknown said...

i had one of those crazy dreams just last night!

this poem hits the nail right on the head.

but my husband, he makes it all right in the morning.

have a happy week!

Wine and Words said...

I have only three old boyfriends, and they have not popped up anywhere. Old mistakes however, always make unwanted visits.

Phoenix said...

Damn. Awesome poem :)

Rick said...

I can't really associate with this though I love the telling. Nothin cold as ashes once the fires out. I'm all too happy to blaze a new trail once the chill sets in. I'll have to check out her stuff. ~rick (congrats on the SB win)