Moment of Truth

Well, I have made it to Day Five and am already sliding,more than a bit.  I figure that if I can slog along from here, I can manage to achieve at least 28 days of my 30-day vow, and perhaps I can even make up the others later.  I rather like today's offering, though, and its theme of lost love--reminding me of the adage that the opposite of love is not hatred, it's indifference.

MOMENT OF TRUTH

We sit at the table and share a plate

of nachos, because you are hungry

and have no money, and I

always end up paying for everything.

From the looks of your face

swollen and white in bar light

you haven't done much for months

except stay indoors,
while eating and sleeping

and deflecting the sun.

You swallow carefully

and avoid eye contact

and I remember another bar

only a couple of years ago

and your expression then
as I returned from the bathroom,

how much I wanted everything to quit moving

and never change again.

Your face is nothing

like it was that night, alive

and revealing much more than you intended--

now your apathy wears itself

like clothing you can't discard

as you chew slowly and say,

“These are really excellent nachos.

Thank you.”