Happily-ever-afters are static,
they don't get the same viewings
as tragedies, because as a society
we live, breathe for pain as long
as it's not our own ((of course))

…so when the girl two dorms
to the right is bawling in the
"common" room we all gather
in a desperate attempt to tear
pieces of valediction and sustenance
from her worthless broken frame
and patch them to bruised skin
in an attempt to purify ourselves.

It's only weeks later we remember
to pretend to care
to pretend we're sorry.