I would always say, call her, call her
but he wouldn’t call her
not even on her birthday
maybe he called her once a year
he never sent her presents, but I did
she told me he never talked to her
about why he was so angry with her
she wished he would talk to her
she and I communicated better than they did
if there was a thank you note or email to write
I wrote it, not him
and yet when push came to shove
she believed his untruths
even though he had a pattern of lying
and said she would “defend him to the death”
putting a much more martial and aggressive
face on what should really just have
been considered a tragedy
she attacked me in the middle
of my brokenness, at the nadir
of my vulnerability
and called me names
saying that I was the only one to blame
(not even he would have said that)
for what had happened
and only believed his skewed narrative
of victimization, as if he had no
agency or responsibility of his own
she said these things
despite my traumas
and the indignities
I have suffered at his treatment
as a woman
I thought she would have
more understanding
well
if people want to live
in denial and delusion
I suppose that is their choice
but I will no longer
have any part
in it