What I Know About Marriage
Marriage will be whispered arguments when the children are sleeping
Or even sometimes when they’re awake
Marriage will be her begging him
“The children need you here, I need you here”
And he’ll say
“Well one of of us has to make money”
Marriage will be her screaming for help
Until her vocal cords blister and bleed
Although no one seems to hear
Or maybe her lungs will burst
Begging for air
When the tidal wave rushes in and she can’t swim
Marriage will be him finding comfort in another
And she will discover the unbearable truth
Young, bubbly, and perky
Everything she’s not
Marriage becomes resentment
Over promises that hollow like rotten logs
“I’m working late tonight, but I’ll be at the recital”
“We’re done. She’s just a colleague”
Marriage will be the realization of her self worth
Divorce will be packing up the children
Into that old ‘07 Buick Lacrosse
Without a note of explanation
Driving for hundreds of miles
On gray, bleak highways
That never end
Until day and night appear the same
To go back to New Jersey
The only place she’s ever known,
The only place that truly felt like home.
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