The One You Date After the Divorce

The one you date

After the divorce

Will wear glasses

And that’s how you’ll know

They’re different

They’ll indicate to the public
That they are more professional

Smarter

More—together

Than the first person

You were married to

The one you date

After the divorce

Will have no problem at all

Taking out your garbage

And putting up with your baggage

And letting you take way too much luggage

On vacation with you

You think to yourself—

This person

Is patient

This person

Has time for me

This person

Will never yell

The one you date

After the divorce

Is not as good in bed

As the person

You were married to

But then again

You don’t wake up

With a knife four inches from your face

And half your clothes

Burning in the kitchen sink

So yes

Yes

You’ve had better sex

But you’ve never felt safer

…But yes, you miss the sex

You can’t help it

You’re you
You like sex
Who doesn't?

The person you date

After the divorce

Laughs and smiles

And impresses your friends

And your friends tell you

How happy they are

For you

And how happy

You seem to be

And how happiness

Was bound to come around eventually

If you just dropped out of that marriage

You were trapped in

And you wonder

Why they didn’t say any of that to you

When you were married

Instead of now

Nobody wants to be the messenger

And yet...

Hearing them talk about how happy they are for you

Makes them sound like jailers

At the end of a sentence

Letting you know

That the prison doors

Are always left unlocked

Thanks, but…?

Things are better
With the one you date after the divorce
But--

Not perfect

The one you date

After the divorce

Likes the music you listen to

But not the food you cook

They like the books you read

But not the movies

You watch

They like your kids

But not your siblings

You wonder if there’s anything--

Anything

--You liked about your ex

That this new person will also have

But it seems like

Everything is this or that

And of course

Wouldn’t it make sense

That you chose someone

Who was the exact opposite

Of the person you were married to?

Wasn’t that what you wanted?

Not one atom in their body

To match?

Not one strand of hair

To look similar?

Not one fiber

In the fiber of their being

To bear a resemblance?

Wasn’t that the point?

The person you date

After the divorce

Will lay with you in bed

And ask you

If everything’s okay

And you’ll say ‘Yes’

And not mean it

Because even though

Things are better

You wouldn’t say

They’re okay

You might say ‘Great’

You might say ‘Swell’

You might say ‘No’

You might say ‘Maybe it was my fault all those years’

You might say ‘Maybe I should just be alone’

You might say ‘Being the opposite of them doesn’t make you the right fit for me’

You might say a lot of things

But you’re still so tired

From the divorce

A divorce requires

A five-year nap

And it’s only been four months

And you've been so busy
Looking for the one you'd date
After the divorce
That you haven't had any time
To take a nap

But now you're here
In bed
With the one
The one you were looking for
And you're finally ready
To close your eyes

So you go to sleep

And wonder

Who the person will be

After this person

And who the person will be

After that

You wonder if it's meant to be comforting
When you find yourself
With the person you're going to be with forever

The thought of it terrifies you

A soulmate
Somebody who'll always be there
The thought of there never being
Anybody new

How do people feel happy
Thinking about something like that?

You wonder

And you wonder

And you wonder

And you wonder

If you’ll ever get around

To being with anybody

Who doesn’t feel like

Just another person
Just another person who'll do for now
But who won't be forever
Because forever would scare the hell out of you
Wouldn't it?

Shouldn't it?

In the meantime there's this person
And the next person
And the next

All the people you're going to be with
And then not be witih
After the divorce