Unlove Story

I wonder why

It’s so wonderful,

It’s so beautiful,

Why this thing called

Love
attracts so many
guilty

Openmouthed stares and lovers’ sighs
over someone who doesn’t exist?

Pages open like a partner’s arms

And we feel safe in a cold
paper cut.

Does the divorce rate prove our high expectations
of unexpected consequences?

To young lovers swooning
over faces they imagine
why does it

Attract

So much attention

When our lives depend on other things?

We cheat on ourselves
with books and magazines
who preach self love

But endorse self loathing

And why?

Because as young, unloved women and men

We like to pretend that we’re not.