Italian Men

We went to the ocean,

And my friend took our picture.

You were silent on the train;

You were silent at the concert;

You were silent at the bar;

It was my birthday, and the DJ

Demanded you ask him to play

“Sweet Caroline.”

You refused.

I flirted with someone else,

You confided in your friend.

When she was drunk and crying about some boy,

Some Italian men touched her face to comfort her

As she sat on a bench on the subway platform.

I made it better, and later you said,

“You were so good tonight.”

Three days later we broke up,

I didn’t have it in me to cry.

I never understood what happened,

But it always seemed sudden, inevitable.

It felt right, and has felt exponentially

More right as time has passed.