3 when another woman leaves a mess

When another woman leaves a mess

At first maybe it’s just a hair tie

But then as you are walking 

into the house of his life

 you start to see dings and dents

 in the walls 

stains on the carpets

 of fast food places

 they loved to eat. 

if you look under the couch cushions 

you’ll find that song 

that she used to love 

And he won’t listen to any more

And as you walk across the kitchen floor 

broken glass crunches underfoot

Like the shards of a plate that was dropped

And as you bend down to pick up these piece

You start to recognize a few

And some are completely foreign to you

You realize they are peices of the hearts 

that were left behind 

His

And hers

And his third grade best friends 

who moved away 

while he was at summer camp 

His grandpa who always took him fishing

And his favorite dog that ran away

And you have to carefully place them in a box

One to take home and sort

For the ones you can recycle 

The pieces you can put back together

For the ones that are smudged and need

Just a little tender love and care 

So you take the box

And set it by his front door

Waiting there for him to say

I’ll take care of that tomorrow 

Don’t worry about it now 

Or 

Here’s what I have . 

Take it and have it

but please be careful of the sharp edges 

Because he realizes 

there are things left broken

When another woman leaves a mess