Finally Coming To Terms With Merrideth Poem by Dennis Ryan

Monday afternoon, April 17, 2023; Tuesday morning, April 25, 2023

"Well, I know what's right; I got just one life …
Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out …"
—Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, "I Won't Back Down"

I have finally come to terms with you,
Merrideth, with your bad behaviors—your
chronic lying, deceptions, your intentions
on full display. You are, in fact, a woman
without a conscience, without goals, pathways,
a drifter who, unfortunately, I met in January,
who has finally found her way out West, to Utah,
and I gladly leave you out there, never wanting
to see or talk to you again as I told you recently
on at least two occasions. You are, simply put,
untrustworthy, a woman on whom I can depend
for nothing, nada—in sum, a huge waste of my time.