Old Lover Beats a Dead Horse
Deaf as a snake
to the sound of “It’s over,”
he hung his pathos,
albatross-fashion,
around my neck,
tried to worm his way back
with requests that we talk,
take a walk, see a counselor.
Finally he took in the truth
in one anglerfish bite
and he turned wolverine-mean:
bullied through all my escapes
with a murder of memos,
a cackle of calls,
a flock of distempered demands,
and a summons to court.
His legal challenge denied,
he grew mad-dog rabid,
penned howler rants,
rammed his way through the door
when I was alone
and pretended to be perplexed
that I refused to
be “friends,”
left him to
wallow in wormwood,
afloat in his
crocodile tears.
Sharon Whitehill
Sharon is a retired English professor from West Michigan now living in Port Charlotte, Florida. In addition to poems published in various literary magazines, her publications include two scholarly biographies, two memoirs, two poetry chapbooks, and a full collection of poems. Her chapbook, THIS SAD AND TENDER TIME, is due out in winter 2024.