Elke Nigro (Hamburg, Germany)

Divorced, they live separately,
a few houses apart,
she: still leaning a bit on the past,
he: wondering why the marriage didn't last.

Still sitting on a 'seesaw', she is up,
and he is down,
hers is an exuberant smile,
his a questioning frown.

He keeps a watchful eye on who visits her,
and she doesn't mind, since it is legally known,
her life is now her very own.

After 30 years of marriage with no further
explanation,
other than she needed to live alone,
what led to it remains unknown.

She is pleased and feels safe and secure,
when he still measures their lives,
through what he sees of it with distant eyes.

He tries to unravel what he doesn't understand,
but when something is needed or broken,
out of habit, he still lends a helping hand.

Hours later, he watches her on a Harley
zooming by,
thousands of strands of her long, beautiful hair
happily waving good-byes.