Love and Violence, Two Peas in a Pod

A Poem

In college, I dated a girl By dated, I mean spent nights in her West Village apartment Tending to her and lending ears Something slightly larger than a fly on the wall Maybe a beetle on her windowsill? A beetle that listened intently And looked pretty enough with a multichromatic shell

She told me she was a writer And her college major was Love & Violence How peculiar, that you can major in Love & Violence Why must those two things go together? Los dos son como uno…

I asked to see her writing She showed me a photo of her ex-girlfriend I then realized that I was the person Who she showed a photo of her ex-girlfriend to Because she cared so little about my feelings

I realized I was the soft clonazepam touch I licked her wounds until she became too reliant So she kicked me like a bad habit

I spent many years playing Best Actress in a Supporting Role I wanted the violence of love more than the love itself

Confusing the two, thinking love without violence was fake

© Liv Pasquarelli 2021