Beloved,
I can’t wait for you to leave
so I can tell our granddaughter that
loving you was like trying to scoop the wind with a basket
it left me dizzy with exhaustion
I’ll tell her I loved you with my mouth shut
because I wasn’t sure you wanted to hear me speak
or coil in a corner and wait to smile for the dignitaries from China
I’ll tell her I wrote you countless love letters but
I wasn’t sure you’d read them and call me sweet like you sometimes do
or smack my face and call me petty like you often do
I can’t wait for you to leave
so I can tell our granddaughter
never to have an affair with
a man whose first wife is a country

About the Author:

Harriet Anena is the author of A Nation In Labour – a poetry collection. She is in the kitchen, preparing her second poetry collection and other things.