“Leaving is not enough; you must

stay gone. Train your heart

like a dog. Change the locks

even on the house he’s never

visited. You lucky, lucky girl.

You have an apartment

just your size. A bathtub

full of tea. A heart the size

of Arizona, but not nearly

so arid. Don’t wish away

your cracked past, your crooked

toes; your problems

are papier mache puppets

you made or bought

because the vendor was so

compelling you just

had to have them. You had

to have him. And you did.

And now you pull down

the bridge between your houses.

You make him call before

he visits. You take a lover

for granted, you take

a lover who looks at you

like maybe you are magic. Make

the first bottle you consume

in this place a relic. Place it

on whatever altar you fashion

with a knife and five cranberries.

Don’t lose too much weight.

Stupid girls are always trying

to disappear as revenge. And you

are not stupid. You loved a man

with more hands than a parade

of beggars, and here you stand. Heart

like a four-poster bed. Heart like a canvas.

Heart leaking something so strong

they can smell it in the street."

Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell.

~ Marty McConnell

https://youtu.be/Uno-noGe2l4?si=iJSHJGIxgDrG08Yk

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