She said she was your soulmate —
it is a word that she used,
not you.
She said she was your soulmate,
your soulmate wouldn’t abandon you with a small child.
She said she was your soulmate —
it is a word that she used,
not you.
She said she was your soulmate,
your soulmate wouldn’t leave you for weekends with men.
She said she was your soulmate —
it is a word that she used,
not you.
She said she was your soulmate,
your soulmate wouldn’t have shown such delight
telling you about the things she did.
She said she was your soulmate —
it is a word that she used,
not you.
When she first used this word,
you were getting an apartment together,
and she asked which of your books to read first.
You knew who she was,
somehow -
as you reached for
Madame Bovary.
She said she was your soulmate —
it is a word that she used,
not you.
If you ever take advice,
take this small offering —
wait, wait, wait.
