Love in the Time of Rockets

James always had roses and photographs.  I always had schemes and costumes.  We drew maps, swapped clothes and identity, names like the backs of trading cards.  Always one more to catch, another to lose.  He fed the carp in the garden pond; I let the cat inside when it rained.  No man I’ve ever known had eyes as hopelessly big as his.  No woman he ever knew wore skirts as impossibly short as mine.

There are not words for love when hearts are made of silk and helium.  These days we drink tea from cups with broken handles and sing songs we forgot the words to.  For fun, we put on our wedding clothes one last time.  His smile is warmer than any Oklahoma heat wave. 

No one ever wanted us to win, but in whispers and rumor we got a happy ending no one ever predicted.  Roll credits, closing theme.  We’ll meet in again in the next episode.

-Yes, this is a Pokemon-inspired piece.  I was and always will be a Team Rocket fan.

-This poem, the antithesis of “Turning Japanese,” was written as a “we’re cool now” for my ex, Martin because I got very tired of writing sad poems.  By the time I wrote this one, I was starting to wear out on writing about bad romances and wanted to write something that reflected the hope and understanding that, hey, sometimes relationships end, but you can still look back on them fondly.