Forgetting Someone - The Easy or Hard Way?

There are two ways to forget someone:

1) The Hard Way: don’t see, write or call them again.

2) The Easier Way: get to know them a bit better

© Wendy Cope.

You knew what you were doing, even by the third date. Your treatment of us shamed me, your lazy messages and bruising silence wiped out by your smile. Confident all would be well with an apology, you say sorry again. Is that fifty apologies now in three months? I could say ‘literally’.

I accept your words though, devising another unspoken excuse on your behalf, an implicit envoy unspoken but needed.

What makes you so brutal? Right now I think you are happy to live in the moment, trusting that my understanding and responsiveness will continue. You aren’t wrong. It does.

Maybe you will change in time, the worse you behave. A rock bottom must be reached.

After those three days isolating me after that night, I fell into drink and daytime sleep. You returned my calls and apologised. This time I mourned, but felt foolish to be mourning a carcass of love that was us.

Then we started again.

I woke up today and realised I wasn't mouring us, but instead lamenting a vision. But what a beautiful vision! We lived by the beach and bought that B&B you wanted. I spoke to you just now and felt for the first time how unlike my vision we ever were.

You are not even bad.

You are just you, and I’ve got to know you a bit better.