She means nothing to him anymore
he swears,
and his words feel hot as they settle
in your hair -
âyou arenât her,â
he says
but
when the night settles around you
maybe you can taste her tears on his pillow, maybe
you can smell her shampoo or the sweet soap
she agonized over picking out just so heâd tell her she
reminded him
of lilacs
maybe at first you feel good, good, good,
you feel chosen, you feel
like you won
but
her ghost has become as familiar to you
as your shadow, you taste her toothpaste and
you hear her laughter,
he says âshe used to paint her nails like youâ
and you say
âyeah?â and
go home
and donât cry, donât cry, donât cry
because you feel good, good, good
god did he just choose you because you wear her dresses and like the same things as she did except youâre more into his tv shows and less into weddings are you just a replacement are you just scar tissue to fill up the wounds she left are you just the girl between the girl he wanted to marry and the girl he actually will
and he says
âshe means nothing to me anymoreâ
and you say
âyeah?â
and some sad sick part of you
knows you should save yourself the trouble
of a heartbreak so loud your neighbors would call the cops, thinking they heard gunshots -
youâre smart and youâve seen how these things go and
one day heâs going to say
âshe meant nothing to me, anywayâ
and heâll be talking about
you
because you already mean less to him
than you really should
but god help you every time he kisses you
you feel
good, good, good.