I carried our wedding china out to the dock, threw every goblet into the ocean. He asked if I wanted a ticket to somewhere with ski slopes and full-length mink coats. I said yes and I’ll say it again. I miss you in the strangest ways. Do you remember when you bought me a new rug for the kitchen? A lover who wastes all his tokens on the house. I’ve got a red lipstick in my purse, and a few dollars for a cab. Every man wants a different song and dance. When the curtain closes, they all go home to the same freshly vacuumed rooms.

Kristina Marie Darling is the author of eighteen books, which include Vow, Petrarchan, and Scorched Altar: Selected Poems and Stories, 2007-2014, which is forthcoming from BlazeVOX Books. Her awards include residencies at Yaddo, the Wurlitzer Foundation, and the Ucross Foundation, as well as grants from the Kittredge Fund and the Elizabeth George Foundation.