Mar*riage: the legally or formally recognized union of two people
as partners in a personal relationship.
My father leaves my mother at the altar.
Years from now I embrace this idea.
I reject any concept of happily-ever-after,
forever-and-always bullshit that conquers
our television screens from a young age.
While discussing the divorce of John Mulaney
And his wife, a coworker tells me
“humans aren’t meant to mate for life,”
His words imprint on my mind like a baby’s
first handprint into clay. Mate for life.
I never believed in soulmates either.
I am the grandchild of divorce,
the lovechild of wasn’t meant
and to be.
I breathe in forgotten anniversaries,
Neglected wedding rings, and
Broken vows.
In return, I exhale out the
inability to lend my heart
to a stranger.
Annalisa Hansford (they/them) is a freshman at Emerson College. Their poetry has been longlisted for Grindstone Literary’s 2020 International Poetry Prize. Their work appears or is forthcoming in The Rising Phoenix Review, Emerge Literary Journal, Poetic Sun, and The Hearth Magazine. In their free time, they enjoy listening to indie music, rubbing their dog’s belly, and eating vegan ice cream.