a bar with broken hearts

he predicted it,

the way seismologists

can with tremors of the earth.

he predicted she would leave

and she wouldn't excuse it

or write him words to weep with,

she would simply disappear

the same way she arrived



he will drink her away,

find some small corner,

sit and face remorse

in a smudged, dirty glass

and he won't stop

until the feeling dies

or he does



she had eyes he said

that melted polar icecaps

mistaken for global warming,

i only saw myself in hers



i could only wonder

what kind of woman

gets up and disappears,

who becomes like

the remnants of smoke



he looks me in the face and says



she was everything



it occurred to me right then

this might be why we all go back;

back to the well more than once



because love can be beautiful

even when it is this goddamn painful