‘We like each other.’
Theorise about complementary personalities
shared missions
commitment
sex —
but those words are where it’s at.
This father and mother
who have been partners for so many years
like each other.
TV-documentary theory: that feeling — you know the one — lasts
three to seven years. If that’s so, then to keep it going,
you have to fall in love with each other again.
But maybe not. Maybe you just have to
like each other.
But what to do with the stale socks, farts and forgotten dates?
The tired eyes, tampon boxes and tantrums?
And what to do with the desire to be lost,
to disconnect,
to fade into a grove of trees somewhere
or into Greenwich Village or
Temple Bar or
Fremantle?
They must have let each other go. Somehow.
How long did they have to stay away
before they wanted to go back?
(First published in Pixel Papers)