The Ex
I still think of him
and want to ask:
When did our cats die?
What has life done
for you without me?
Are you happy?
Your parents still living?
Your sister’s children
successful adults?
Did they ever forgive
me — or you
for not saying goodbye?
What career did you
finally settle in?
TV director, DJ, other?
Would you be surprised
to know I’m married
have two cats,
a house brought as dowry
(no white picket fence),
a well-paying job,
a better golf game,
respect,
a way of living
that still on odd days
misses you.
*
Nancy Kay Peterson’s poetry appeared most recently in Bellevue Literary Review, The Bluebird Word, Dash Literary Journal, Earth’s Daughters, HerWords, Naugatuck River. Review, One Sentence Poems, RavensPerch, Spank the Carp, Steam Ticket, Three Line Poetry and Tipton Poetry Journal. From 2004-2009, she co-published Main Channel Voices: A Dam Fine Literary Magazine (Winona, MN). Her work appears in Haikus for Hikers (Brick Street Poetry, Inc.) and Play (Outsider Press). Finishing Line Press published her chapbooks, Belated Remembrance (2010) and Selling the Family (2021). She resides in Bellingham, Washington. nancykaypeterson.com
The kind of wistful thinking that finds you googling old exs, finding updates on their lives via mentions in obituaries of family members
I can relate to the unanswered questions in this poem.