I mark my wedding anniversary
that’s my most successful failure yet.
With poems and songs
That delay the inevitable mistake.
When my partner realizes
they should have never signed the paper.
That licenses lifelong disappointment
And guarantees resentment.

I mark my wedding anniversary
that’s my most successful failure yet
When old signs and unkicked habits
Stoke like pernicious coal fires
perfect for cremation.
Too much time together
Reveals that we can’t be together
And spend all our time wondering whether
Our lives were nothing more than ether.

I mark my wedding anniversary
that’s my most successful failure yet
With affection turned affliction
From isolation on borrowed time
That makes me wonder
how long will I have
love and life.

I mark my wedding anniversary
of my most successful failure yet.
A few more words to save things
A few more chances to be better
And then I will have a book full of failures
Penned for the cops to find