where's a musician when you need one?

[just mercedes]

(I think) it's worse when they are kind, when they are friendly, when they "let you down easy". When they offer a real promise of friendship. A real promise of friendship, or a promise of real friendship?

Or worse yet, when friendship was all they ever wanted. This line jumps into past tense
Sometimes a handshake is just a handshake.


(I think) that is why I always dated jerks,
jerk musicians,
jerk writers,
jerk artists;
with a jerk you knew what to expect.
A jerk would treat you badly, and you would love them more for it.
A jerk would offer tiny scrap of affection, just when you were about to walk,
and you would fall for it, again
and again.
And eventually they don't even bother to dump you, they just fade away. Wouldn't instead of don't, they'd, to maintain the previous usage
With a jerk you could be justifiably angry,
you could have a proper snit. love this word!
You could be injured, and cry about it to your girlfriends over bottles of cheap white wine and jars of chocolate icing that you ate with a spoon. U think ate should be eat - as in you could be injured, you could cry, you could eat it with a spoon

Decent men are dangerous. Decent men, they don't give you that option. When a decent man doesn't want you, you smile, chew on your cheek to keep from crying right away, and pretend your arse off that you are "Just Fine" with this.
Later, you see yourself differently, and
then head straight back to the nearest motorcycling riding guitar player with a ponytail.

Hi Ruth - your poem made me smile with recognition - somehow I ended up with a bass playing long haired renegade a time or two myself. What's not to love?

I don't know why I'm so adverse to reading 'I think' in a poem - to me a poem is a process of thought, so this fact is obvious. It also feels like a qualification, as in I think, but I don't know, I'm not sure - in which case I want to say Claim it! Don't hedge around.

I enjoyed reading - thank you!