You’re so exactly right about those egos…

It’s essentially a reckoning poem. I’d regained the spirit I’d lost over the years while allowing myself to stay in a psychologically abusive relationship for way too long (long past it’s harm was obvious.) He was an “actor”, meaning he was obsessed with theatre, not that he’d ever acted. He was all talk, and was actually too petrified to ever get on stage. But I didn’t know all his stories were lies— it was the pandemic, nobody was on stage at the time. I bought into lie after lie after compulsive lie. I worked 3 jobs while he stayed home because of his anxiety. Think I didn’t have anxiety? I was working three jobs! 🤣 and one was as a fully time covid ICU nurse while pregnant—not an easy gig! For years, he envied for my success in various categories of life. It’s as if he absorbed them as his own. He became delusional and even started to genuinely believe he was a nurse—because I was, and would tell people about it. Every time I tried to leave he’d hurt himself so bit by bit I gave all I had away— including attention that should have been on my children. When I finally left, I wrote this skit-like verse and it was a wonderful feeling the first time I read on stage. In reality, everyone really was cheering me on as I left him.

oops. I overlooked this question. I will get back to you on that when I'm not rushing kids around!

Thank you, genuinely

Thank you for reading. I know it’s a lengthy one. I enjoyed playing around with the formatting— I'm not sure if it translates, but I was aiming for the arrows to contribute to the theme of leaving, with momentem, off the “stage” of our relationship.

Thank you! It was a reckoning moment poem. I was high off my newfound freedom from abuse. Thanks for reading.

Much better now :)

haha. You're absolutely right.

This is fantastic, and I think the first stanza is the most evocative of them all—excellent table setter. Can I say that about poetry, or just baseball?

Me too!