Second Love by Ross White
……….I took you nowhere,
still shellshocked from the carpet bombing
……….at the end of first love,
still in awe of how quick
the turn from roses to reproach,
……….the hollowing out.
For third love, I laid shingles on rooftops,
I moved across country in a semi-stolen camper,
……….I skinnydipped in quarries
in each of the Western states;
for fourth love, I married.
But all you got was codependence,
……….occasional chrysanthemums.
I promise I was trying
but the itinerary was blank—
first love, I took to magnificent bridges
……….where we dangled our feet
and talked about how far the drop would be,
third love I steered toward the stone cities,
……….the curious mausoleums
we could not wait to explore
full of bones, tarnished silver,
fourth love I flew to villas in green mountains,
……….to Parisian avenues,
great museums.
Second love, I delivered you
……….to the desert—
………………..I had to be sure
I wouldn’t remember any of the landmarks.
Ross White is the author of Charm Offensive, winner of the 2019 Sexton Prize, and two chapbooks. He is the director of Bull City Press, an independent publisher of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and the editor of Four Way Review. He teaches creative writing and grammar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the associate director of The Frost Place Conference on Poetry. His poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, New England Review, Poetry Daily, Tin House, and The Southern Review, among others. Follow him on Twitter: @rosswhite.
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