My Wedding Ring

OK, I'm fully over you and the ways
you ruined me. But it plagues me
that you wear my wedding ring on
your thumb to this day. Wrapped
around your finger, literally. As if
your deserting me wouldn't preclude
your wanting to keep that little piece
of me constantly in your memory.
As if I shouldn't mind, knowing
how deeply it hurt when you turned
your back on me, as if I shouldn't
find it odd that you keep me so close
after years of forcing me to stay at a
distance. It's neither right nor
reasonable that you would hold on
to me, for others to see, like some
sort of ill-fated toy you can play with
when you choose, thinking, "Oh,
wasn't it quaint. I had a husband
once, someone who thought enough
of me that he swore in front of both
our families to be with me forever."
Go ahead and NOT tell your friends
and family how you disowned me
then walked out just as your life took
a turn for the better, largely because of
my impact on your dreams, just as the last
of my money was spent, just as you
were made to realize how long it
had been since you really felt any
love for me. Go ahead and make it
seem like an unfortunate circumstance
which just wasn't meant to be. In
most ways it was indeed, but the truth
is that you just gave up when you
could've chosen to stand by your word,
the truth is you never believed in me or
the possibilities of us while claiming
relentlessly that you did. I can no longer
think of you sweetly, you who violated
my trust, you who butchered my faith
that love is real and potent and lasting.
You were a na•ve little girl who got
mixed up in something she really
wanted no part of. Aside from your
having me around your thumb,
what really bothers me is wondering:
did you really have to lie so long?

(2007)