~TONY BARNSTONE~

OH, GREAT, HE GETS TO GO ON VACATION

---

 

She leaves him just before their long-planned flight
to Europe, sticks him with two tickets he
cannot refund.  "I could stay here and be
with you," he says.  But, "No," she says, "don't fight
for me.  I need you not to need me, need
not to need you."  And so they pack their things
and drive out of Los Angeles.  What stings
is her success in killing off her greed
for him, his body, jokes, his friendship, all
of him, unnecessary now.  That's why
his absence makes her colder, why he bleats
into the phone and why she doesn't call
him back.  She's gone, she's gone, and all the way
to Greece he sits next to an empty seat.

© by Tony Barnstone