1. Stolen love
By Nathanael W. Dungan
The phone’s been ring
off the hook all day.
But I don’t answer.
The machine is full
of messages from her.
“We need to talk,
please pick up the phone.”
But I can’t pick up.
I need this time alone
to figure out my thoughts.
The doorbell chimes
and the knocking follows.
But I remain in bed.
I know who it is
and what he wants.
“Come on man, open up,
you can’t stay inside forever.”
I just roll over.
I can’t talk to him
not after what he did.
She was my true love
until he came along.
Now she is with him.
and I sit alone
in my dark apartment.
“This was an accident,
he and I were just friends.”
That’s what she said.
But she fell for him
and left me far behind.
He was a real friend,
or that’s what I thought.
But now I doubt he was.
A real friend has respect
for another’s relationship.
“You were miles away,
and she needed a friend.”
But feelings grew between them.
And I received a message
saying things were different now.
Alone watching the television;
flipping through the channels.
But there is nothing good on.
All the shows are about couples
and are a constant source of pain.
“Things will be better soon,
and you will find someone new.”
That’s what my parents said.
But they don’t have to see
the two of them together.