(This is first-person fiction and the ex-husbands are stereotypical)

'I tried to make it work -
I always tried really hard,
every, every time.

But I guess I must have
tried too hard because
I spoiled them rotten and
then, of course, they were
rotten.

Most of them live downtown
now, and they do seem to be
making progress.

Some of them even have
their very own shopping-carts.'