Bertrande de Rols

It’s not that he scared me, exactly,
just that he didn’t see me, back then.

There were ghosts in the marriage
and I learned to keep my distance.

When he went, I left the windows open for weeks.
I left the windows open

and I was alone, keeping

my own counsel, and company,
the child, yes, but all grew

toward a kind of freedom,

there were the gardens, yes,

and the animals, there was enough,


and time, I grew rich with days,


and, you see, I didn’t miss him


at first, or then.