metaphor with line breaks

she says
every day you promise me dinner
she says
every day you say it's about what i want
she says
every day you make steak.
i'm vegetarian.

he says
i don't mean you have to make it
i don't mean i have to make it
i don't care if we make it together
but i have to eat.

he says
she used to like to cook
i thought she liked to cook
she would say i love to watch you eat
there would be little garnishes on the plate
now there's nothing.

she says,
he never told me when he was hungry
he never told me the food was good
he never said thank you
i stopped cooking.
he can get his own food, i don't care.
i'm too tired to cook, she says, or worse:
i'm not hungry.

he stops at a subway on the way home
or mcdonald's, and it's not on the way home at all
out of the way and he hopes nobody sees his car
something quick, something to tide him over
and he comes home to responsibilities and anger
no dinner
and they sleep clutching the edges of the bed.

eventually he starts working late
ordering in or going out
and it's not just for sustenence,
like he said it would be because he needed it
but one day he realizes he's savoring the food
the textures, the colors, the smell
the way it makes him feel

she goes out with her friend
and starts talking about the meals he used to make for her
the effort he used to make,
the textures, the colors
her friend touches her hand, briefly, only
briefly, "i could cook that, i think."
and she's hungry again, for the first time
in years.

Comments

[Madeleine]

you slay me.

[ozma]

I have a stupid question: Did you write this? You must have or you would post a name. It's great! Not that I'm saying you couldn't write something great...anyway I love it.

[Jorja]

1) Fabulous!! Can I use it in the classroom?

2) Having been EXACTLY there, it is interesting to look back from a better place in the same relationship. And all it took was letting go.

[hongcgi]

Nice!