As it turns out, the men in Texas aren't the problem. I have found terrible men everywhere.

I still love Oklahoma City.

That was the weekend I dressed up all pretty,

in that new dress that I bought

just to be a piece on your arm

like a watch

or a ring

or a small thread on your cuff.

_______

I’ll hop in my old truck

and drive west till the water hits the sky.

In the city where my ex-boyfriend used to live,

the farthest from home I’ve ever been,

I’ll cry and beg the stars to tell me why.

I’ll head north up along the coast

to where everything freezes into one

and I no longer have to feel everything

because I am simply too cold to feel anything.

I’ll ask myself why I live someplace

where I can never be cold at all

and the wide open spaces are so oppressive

and I feel like I can never catch a breath.

Driving east, I’ll meet some old friends

and tell them that I can’t stay long

because gas is too cheap to stay in one place,

but really it’s because I can’t bare

to hear their sorrowful words when I tell them

how everything went wrong.

Back down south, back home,

back to where everything starts and ends,

where nothing much happens

and I have no answers to the questions

I asked on my travels.

Back to the heat

and the wide open skies where prairie runs forever

back to bed.

Finally, back to bed.

_______

Heartbreak:

about that man,

the one who came after,

the one after that,

and the lack of chocolate in the kitchen.