divestiture: of bedroom sheets & love-tokens
but no such luck for sighs and wringing pains--
we have invested in them so heavily
that our selves are inextricable.

i can calculate your worth with the weight of my tears.
i found a button underneath the bed, which i had just
stripped bare of comforters & cotton pillowcases &
your leftover scent. the button

was an insult, like a tip tossed underneath the table.
only the desperate would crawl on their knees
to retrieve the remains of your presence-- i

am not one of those; i left the button there
& kept my dignity:

i sat on the bed and cried.

02/24/2004

Posted on 02/24/2004
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