poem of the day 04.15.11

shut me up

friday night
the wife and i on the couch
on wine

telling stories about the past

she goes into one
about an old boyfriend
and i stop her

careful, i say
men don’t want to know
we don’t want to know about our woman’s past

what do you mean? my wife asks

the number of men you’ve had
what you guys did
that kind of stuff

to men, all their wives and girlfriends
are virgins and porn stars, i say

my wife nods, downs her wine and says
look, you know who i’ve been with
and at least i don’t write poems about ex-lovers

do you know how many poems
i’ve read of yours
that have you going down on some ex-girlfriend
or her going down on you?

or you fucking some ex-girlfriend?

no, i say

many, my wife says

then she hands me her glass
and i pour us a couple more drops of red

and i don’t say a word
until it’s time to put on a relaxing movie.