To Kathy Kent Poem by R. G. Bell

To Kathy Kent
(On seeing her marriage license.)

I read you billed another wedding act.
Two marqueed names, your co-star’s was not mine.
You must have whispered ardent, practiced lies
Devotions and commitments unrestrained.
I’ve seen this play before. The hero dies.

This time stay in character, sustain your act.
Recite seductive words you’ve never meant.
And though forgetting why you speak the line,
Repeat it just the same, in spite of self.
Spare him the grim, unhealing wound that’s mine.

You owe to him, to me, yourself in fact
If only once, one empty promise kept.
Now, keep your words, or keep pretending to,
And save yourself by sparing someone new.


R. G. Bell 2009