If I had three lives, I'd marry you in two.
The other? Perhaps that life over there at Starbucks, sitting alone, writing - a memoir, maybe a novel or this poem. No kids, probably, a small apartment with a view of the river, and books - lots of books, and time to read.
Friends to laugh with, and a man sometimes, for a weekend, to remember what skin feels like when it's alive. I'd be thinner in that life, vegan, practice yoga. I'd go to art films, farmers markets, drink martinis in swingy skirts and big jewelry.
I'd vacation on the Maine coast and wear a flannel shirt weekend guy left behind, loving the smell of sweat and aftershave more than I did him. I'd walk the beach at sunrise, find perfect shell spirals and study pockmarks water makes in sand. And I'd wonder sometimes if I'd ever find you.
-If I Had Three Lives, After "Melbourne" by the Whitlams, by Sarah Russell