the ex-factor

Truer words were never spoken: love may fade, but an ex is forever. The end of a relationship has inspired many a poetic pity party, and more than a few haiku. Speaking for myself, I’ve been mining this particular topic for nearly 13 years, starting with a haiku I wrote while trying to adjust to my suddenly single status:

recently separated —
still reaching
for the ring

A few years, and many thousands of dollars in legal fees later, my tone changed dramatically:

threat of frost —
my ex-wife
enters the court room

Since then, my perspective has run the gamut from sadness:

winter overcast —
my ex-wife’s photo
in an old book

to bitterness and angst:

speaking with my ex-wife
I break open a peanut
and eat the shell

cold drizzle —
my ex-wife’s voice
on the answering machine

to unfettered nastiness:

the old tugboat
pushes a rusty barge —
my ex-wife’s plus-sized dress

while the sparrows wait
a fat squirrel
empties the bird feeder

I know I should be a kinder, gentler haiku poet, but I just can’t help myself...