The Love Lives of Other Women

I stir my coffee

And pretend not to listen

Carla's got a new boyfriend

And he's changing her life

With his guitar playing

And sexual prowess

Carla thinks there's a big age gap

Between the two of us

When really we're only separated

By two years

I just look older

I act older

I don't talk about my love life

I sip my coffee

And look at death certificates

Records about people

I never met

And never will

It's one of those jobs

That will tenderly kill your soul

If you stay with it long enough

And I intend to

Carla is going on about her boyfriend's band

And how after he plays with them

He screws her in his car

In the parking lot of whatever bar

He's doing a gig at

Carla says she's been awakened

Awakened by all this newfound sexual activity

Carla's new boyfriend is four years younger than her

Six years younger than me

Practically a child

Who seems determined

To screw his way into adulthood

I guess there are worse ways to mature

A death record comes up

Belonging to a woman my age

And for a second

I flash on her

This woman

Great hair

Good boobs

Annoying younger sister

Mother who's never pleased

Two boyfriends her whole life

Never bought a ridiculous pair of shoes

Never, ever had the kind of sex Carla is going on about

Dead before thirty

I put my coffee down

I pick up my purse

I head out of the office

Carla is practically touching herself

As she recounts the story

Of she and her boyfriend

Going to kids' movies at midnight

To try and catch an abandoned theater they can--

I don't hear the rest

I'm already thinking about what I'm going to say

When I tell my boss why I left work early

I'll have to tell him that he has to give the rest of my work to Carla

For the foreseeable future

That'll keep her at work pretty late

For the next few nights

Then I'll think about what I'm going to wear

When I go see Carla's boyfriend's band tonight