From one woman to another.
My dear friend,
Please don’t be offended!
It is just a reminder.

How you gain him,
is how you will either lose him
or keep him.

You are frustrated with life,
frustrated with him.
But you really should be frustrated with yourself.

Are you surprised
by his actions of flirtatiousness,
infidelity,
selfishness?

You shouldn’t be!

Did you really think
that so many years invested in that man
would change his ways?

Did you think
so many years,
so many memories,
so many sacrifices
would place you in a category
more elite than the “others”?

Never my friend!
Remember how it began!

You were so excited
to tell me that you found
“the one”.

Over and over though,
I told you he was married.

Over and over though,
you reassured me
they weren’t happy.

Over and over though,
I reminded you
that it didn’t matter.

Over and over though,
you ignored me!

I remember the conversation
so vividly.
Don’t you remember?

How the ink of that man’s divorce
wasn’t even dry on the paper?
You sat on his steps
as his now ex-wife broke into what use to be
“her” window
with frantic screams of why?

You said she bled
and that nigga didn’t help her.
All signs of his lack of sympathy
for a woman’s heart.

She wasn’t crazy,
just torn.
She put in 10 long years
only to be replaced without notice.

Well damn.
My friend,
its been 10 years for yourself
and now
you’re being replaced.

Maybe that nigga gotta 10 year expiration date!

You’re frustrated.
I know!
You realize
that man never stopped loving
that woman.

He told you he saw her somewhere,
and she lost weight,
and was looking “good”.
That was the first sign.
All I could think of was,
“And so it begins girlfriend!”

You let me see
how he messaged her on her birthday
talking about he remembers when she was 18.                                                                                       Another message saying he misses her family.

You later update me.
He deleted their entire chat thread.
You wonder what else was discussed.

You showed all her photos.
That nigga “Likes” ALL of her photos.
All of them.

I wasn’t surprised.
You were though.
Sitting there crying.
Counting the “others”.
Pointing out their attributes.
Comparing yourself.
Asking why.

Why what?

It was a sort of a blur for me.
I really zoned out a few times.
I was imagining myself as a wasp
walking across your shoulders.
Stinging you to see
if you would realize
the pain you caused that woman.

10 years later,
you say she’s still single,
no kids,
and her ex-husband,
your man
is having conversations with her
like he never left!

You’ve found yourself in a “Dr. Foster” situation,
and you’re in disbelief?

Remember how you arrived,
proceed to exit,
and gracefully bow out.

You went from Side Chic,
to Main Chic,
to Irrelevant.