Dig Deeper

A marriage is like this:
The first year, peel off the skin. 

The next year, dig deeper.
remove the bones
one by one.
Brush them off thoroughly.
Stick the small ones
in your bra.
Throw the rest
to the dogs.

The third year, yank the heart out,
feel it warm, feel it
pulsate in your hand.
Put it in a glass jar
and show your friends.
Prove that he’s heartless.

If he still loves you
the next year, dig deeper.
Pull out each nerve
one by one.
When you pluck
the final one,
call this archeology
of the last nerve.

Don’t be too proud of the job.
Don’t brag to your friends.
He’s been doing
the same thing to you.

published in Dark Entries and Entropy