the new portrait

i should settle down

again,

get married

to someone named muffy.

have a few kids.

a dog,

a cat,

a fenced in yard.

i could have new neighbors

who wave

to me and say

hello, how's

the wife, how's life,

i see you've

taken care of the weeds

in your yard.

i could have

norman rockwell come

over and paint

our porrtait.

this will be life

the way it's supposed to be.

we can send out

long holiday letters

telling all our friends

how wonderful

things are.

i can rewrite the whole story.

start over.

fresh and new.

but then again, on second

though, i'd never

have met

you.