Oh, irony

Once, I worshipped you

Your every breath

No matter how rancid

Or that cloud of mist that hung in the air

Around your head

For seconds longer than everyone else’s

Your personal mist; is that what clouded your mind?

It wasn’t cold for much of the year.

I clung to your every word

Like following a match, miles away in the dark

With your words, I saw a glimmer of a life that wasn’t mine

But could be, if I just listened

Devoured

Retained.

You noticed.

I fed your ego like lonely old women drive spoiled cats

To obesity—fatal love

Evident in desperate situations

You showed me love, how to love

And, eventually, my dependency on you lessened

My vice-grip became a pleasant hand-hold

My ego was pampered—I loved you.

Oh, irony

I once idolized your solid wit

Before hearing the same joke told over again

And couldn’t laugh.

My own jokes were fresh

I, the life of the party. I was the match

He was the darkness

Undermining my importance

Leeching

Venom on his fangs

Now I am rid of him

And in my memory

He is grey wool

Moth-eaten

Not put away for winter

But burned—

The only difference being

I’m not ambivalent

Joyous and regretful

Over pouring gasoline

On sweaters.