step 1:

romanticize,
fetishize,
another’s
rejection
of you.

relish
in any
received
contact
from them,

as mice
do leftover
crumbs

brushed
onto
the floor.

—

step 2:

polish
your memory
of this “We”
on weekends,

like pretend
still-living
structure.

awe at
Their
glazed-over
eye windows,

broken
beautiful.

reminisce
the nights
which left
decimate
their
inner tissue
paper torn
walls;

self-inflicted
by faithful
perish hands.

—

step 3:

use alcohol
like inflatable
arm floaties,

keeping
yourself
barely
above
surface

in an
emotional
wave pool
of

increasing
urgency to

flip-home
or move out.