Revelations before a Disastrous Marriage

I.
She is in the kitchen,
slicing cheese to melt over
white bread.  A few minutes later,
she sits with you on the couch, watching
the opening scene of something starring Julia
Roberts.  Two pieces of bread, topped with bubbling
cheese, crowd a small plate she puts in her lap.  You reach
over to take the piece you think is yours.  She slaps your hand
away.  “I didn’t make these for you,” she says.
                                                                             You get up to floss your teeth.

You are not too surprised when you think to yourself, Selfish bitch.


II.
The tongue,

     alarmed at how
     this small space it felt spreading
     between a tooth and gum
     came to be,

cannot quit curling up into
your lip
to touch that sweet sting of
cavity.


III.
You are both at a party.  She flaunts the ring you bought for her
until she sees you trying to ignore the drunk boy who is trying to
flirt with you.  Later, she sits in your car, asking you the question
you won’t ask yourself.  She reaches for your hand, because it’s
what she thinks you want.  You both cry, trying to curl up into the
space spreading out and in between you.