Breaking It Off
Letter from Anne Sexton
It is not enough
I have waited, a woman
With her knees bent to the dawn.
I have slept with your promises, too.
They tiptoed away like defeated soldiers.
I celebrated with an empty nightgown
In a bed big enough for two,
With booze that faded in seclusion.
Like a madman I nursed
Nightmares in my arms.
I rocked them to sleep like a baby.
I scoured them with the ocean's sand
Till my knuckles bled.
I looked for them in my veins
Among the metal and the glass.
With my voice I wove days full of hunches,
but rumor flew all to pieces.
I covered my lips with your good right hand
so the habit of words would not come too easy.
You covered my eyes with your fingers
so I could not see I was losing you.
Tonight
I watch the pause of roses
Failing at my window.
Copyright 1978-2009 Maureen E. Doallas.
All Rights Reserved.
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