There was a time
When you thrilled me.
My heart stopped when you first spoke to me
In a club downtown on 5th Avenue
With your lips so close to my ear, your warm breath
Raised goose bumps on my neck
We danced
You fell and tore your fishnets
Like a fool, I kissed the reddened flesh of your thigh
You pulled away and made a face before you pulled me in for a kiss.
There was a time
When you loved me.
We took the Path from Jersey City to the Village
And walked uptown to reminisce at the Peppermint
It was gone and we laughed when the traffic cop told us it closed in 86
We held each other tight and you whispered, where did the time go
We ended up in Chelsea at Maryann’s Mexican joint
And sat at a table so close to our neighbors that it felt like
We were sharing a meal.
There was a time
When you cared for me.
You held my hand and laid your head on my shoulder
As the doctor told me that my father wouldn’t last the night
You sat with me as that night passed and waited alone
As I was escorted to that barren room to retrieve his belongings
You cried and held me close when I told you how I hugged the nurse
Who gave me my father’s watch
You whispered, this is better than the pain.
There was a time
When you angered me
I was late to our daughter’s birthday party and
You were stuck waiting on fifty people while cleaning up the cake batter
The cat had spilled on the kitchen floor
You knew that I was out working but
you wouldn’t stop yelling until
You pulled me tightly to you and growled in my ear,
How could you, again.
There was a time
When you left me.
We were driving home from our daughter’s graduation
And I yelled because you were complaining about my driving, again
We were already on edge because I had made us late and
We missed when they called her name
She cried and I told her to grow up while you
Pulled her in tight and whispered something in her ear
I longed to feel that embrace once more and when we got home
I clumsily pulled you in and you put your lips against my ear
And whispered,
goodbye.