Curiosity

n. An objectionable quality of the female mind.

—Ambrose Bierce

numbers
phone
calls
text
messages
obvious
adultery

caught
in his
affair’s
gossamer
threads
familiar
cobweb

cheating
unlocked
uncovered
stream of
amorous
emoji
objectionable

Patience

n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.
—Ambrose Bierce

My therapist says to be patient, that I
am stuck in breakup’s sorry lacuna, am
dealing with traumatic loss, not stumbling
suddenly on crutches, a broken bone in
calla lily white cast, ten weeks in pursuit
of wholeness. No, there is no timeline of
grief, that magician’s scarf-pull. No grace-
ful dance, loss, all jigsawed rhythms. I
wish my thundered thoughts would quit hunt-
ing the inaugural date of his change—patience
lost in traffic, walking six feet ahead with
iPhone in hand to make sure I can’t read a-
nother’s texts, know the need for vengeance.