coffee cup

COFFEE CUP

I admit it, I was bored.
So I offered to help clean your house.
You've been there for over four months now.
Still hadn't made the time to buy some coffee.

Your fridge was empty --
What does our son eat when he's there?
The kitchen was, to use a favorite word of yours,
a nightmare.
The whole place was rank with the smell of Bachelor Sweat.
Dirt. Everywhere.

In your cupboard I found
a coffee cup.
My coffee cup, not yours.
I've asked for it back before -- you forgot, as you do.
And I would have taken it home

But then I looked inside.
And its once pretty white interior
was stained brown
Like old dried blood.
It looked impossible to clean
It didn't even want to be touched.

I didn't mention it at all.
Was happy to leave it there.
But that cup
Promised me
that the mess you used to drag in
is no longer part of my life

And I don't miss it.
Not one bit.

6/30/02