i’d been a bachelor for a year or two

keeping away from involvement

there’d been one nighters’

some fumbles in the hay

nothing that stayed & i appreciated it that way

had my own place furniture i liked

3 squares not too much booze

got back to the writing

the turning up at work on time

i worked with her which made it worse

she’d knock off go home

turn up around nine needing loving

& booze or was it the other way round?

& before i knew it we were playing house

i’d take her out go meet up with friends

who liked her until she’d get drunk & mouth off

they’d take me aside ask is there an ish?

for me to lie say no just exuberance

but i noticed the pattern the repeats

began to figure there was a husband

who’d had enough of her shit

was wanting to offload the problem

him & me now both had something in common