Third night this week I’ve seen
                                all our exes milling
                                              around the front
                            yard. Each lighting
                                          strike outlining
                            haircuts and ears we begged
                               the earth to hold.
Flash: and there’s the one
                             that got away.
Flash: and there’s the boy
                           whose wrists were only
                          beautiful when they held
                                                         a trumpet.
Flash: and there’s the decapitated
                           body lifting weights.
Flash: and there’s the guy
              who wore a sock
                             as underwear.
Flash: and the mailbox is full
                     of letters post
                                marked years ago
             like the office staff of lost
                                mail got back from holiday
                all at once.  This letter’s from Matt,
                                                 the red one’s
                        from Jeremy,
                                 the unmarked one
                  just says “you up baby?
                                                          I am horny.”
      This one,
        a bill for the Royal
                       Hotel in New Orleans
            that neither of us stayed
                        at. This one, a used
                             Oraquick test.  This
                                            one, a DVD
                                 about a marching band.
     This one a black
                    cat with its back forever
               arched. Like squall lines,
                         or a found photo album,
                         or the box in the back
                                    of the closet,
        no amount of waiting
        on the porch with a hatchet
                    will keep them from
                                           coming back.