learning

when she was younger

she wanted to be something else

than what she became

when she met him---

it didn’t happen overnight,

she would explain to her friends who asked &

certainly, as this effect could of happened

at any point in her life

(as it had to friends of her who warned her

when they began to hear of how he was),

she might of expected it when she was

younger & the dreams seemed endless,

for then, if she was to lose one,

she would still of had a plethora to draw

from---

but as the years came on,

she didn’t want to be the one who wasn’t

with someone,

she didn’t want to be the one still living with her

mum &

not yet full set into a career that would keep the

cash flow coming---

stability lured her into these dream-mowers &

then he showed up---

he was beautiful, chiseled, financially stable &

everything that she swore she needed in a man,

until the fire began to ebb---

when the fading came,

he told her that she was wasting her time

pursuing her dream on the side &

that “art” was just something that people did

to make themselves feel better

(that she’d never make any money doing it,

so what was the point?)---

she should have left then

&

she knows that now

(a couple of years later, a few dreams now out of

reach)---

as she stuffs her suitcase full

while he is at work,

she swears that though he was successful in

stifling her for a while,

she will be successful in the dream of

leaving him for good.