Four girlfriends ago
He was a different kind of man
The four girlfriends ago
Assumed that by now
He’d be dead
But yet he insisted
On not being dead
And while they weren’t cross
About that
They weren’t…
Excited
About it either
Because the fifth girlfriend
The fifth girlfriend was having
The time of her life
With a sensitive
Thoughtful
Tender man
Content with life
And all-consumed with trying
To please the fifth girlfriend
And keep her
Forever
The four girlfriends ago
Should let this go
And not become enraged by it
But they ARE
Of course they ARE
How could they NOT be
He was a five alarm
Four girlfriends ago
Three girlfriends ago
He was radioactive
He got tattoos he couldn’t afford
He chainsmoked
He drank just enough
To be belligerent
His last car accident
Changed his life
But the accident
Was two days after
The fourth girlfriend
He met the fifth girlfriend
In the hospital
She was there with her father
Who passed away--expectedly
He was there for her
And that was the first sign
That the collision
Had knocked something loose
That before had been firm
A solid gave way
To a softening
And she was there for it
That new shoulder
That was just waiting
For someone to cry on it
The third girlfriend
Heard all this secondhand
From the first girlfriend
And all four girlfriends ago
Got inside a group text
And wondered what the hell had happened
And had it been the car accident
And if so
Why couldn’t he have gotten into an accident
When THEY were dating him
Maybe not as serious an accident
Because that would have meant
Them turning into nurses
Which wouldn’t be appealing
But a fender bender
That magically turned him
Into the kind of man
Any woman would want to have?
That would have been ideal
Four girlfriends ago
He was never supposed to change
He was going to be
The man you leave
So you can become
A better you
Now he was the better one
And they were
The four girlfriends
Who didn’t see his potential
Who didn’t stick it out
Who walked away from the slot machine
Two nickels away from a jackpot
That’s not true
But it’s how it feels
It feels as though people wait for you
To give up on them
Just so they can surprise you
Just so they can
Turn it all around
But change begets change
And four girlfriends ago
He couldn’t change
Change comes with the fifth girlfriend
And the eighth job
And the ninth apartment
And the final straw
You never know
You never know
What’s going
To make you
Change
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