She was upset with me
she said
for not asking if she was all right
at the top of my call.
I assumed you’d be
I said
particularly after you proved perfectly capable
of picking up the phone.

She hung up then
so if she said anything smart in response
I did not hear it.
It was a bad day
in September
and I would not meet you
for three months yet.

Those three months
were not the best.
Our world
had suffered
of course
but between she and I
it all had turned sour.
It was like
on that bright day
when everything got dark,
we felt alone
we each thought about whom
we wished would comfort us
and it was not each other.

So we drifted
and spoke less
and became less courteous
or involved in one another’s affairs
until I became involved
in my affair with you.
That was in the new year
of course
and by then everything felt quite different
and I am especially happy
that you were all right.