Women 101

When your wilted beloved
hands you, if you are lucky
her tattered Manual of Me
a subtle, small print read

or worse, you’ve put this off
and wilted has turned
to loss, shaking in your face

her Idiot’s Guide to Keeping Me
full of tough love slang
and hand drawn cartoons,

it’s easy. Don’t put it off. Read.
Clean and rearrange your tools.
Fine-tune. Not her. You.
Notice she is reading yours too.

2011