Acrylic, 16” x 20”, Framed

to the woman my ex cheated on me with

By Julia Talen 

we only met a handful of times in passing: when you played a show at rhinoceropolis, then at the coffee at the point. when i first started dating him and you were leaving stella’s just as i was arriving to meet him for a drink. perhaps you’re not a stranger. perhaps you’re an acquaintance, or even a crush. i wonder what the difference is. i must confess i’ve googled you. i watched a music video you made and then wrote some shitty songs and played them to my mirror. i collected black walnuts and broken yarrow because you sung about their wisdom. thanks for stopping him before it went too far. for shaving your head and making spiral seed calendars that helped me understand the moon and my body. once, in a dream, it was just us, and we’d never known him, only each other, deep in the woods.