Lucia Ward

Footnote 

All the woes I listened to, all the fears I soothed,
all the tricks I turned for you, all the rough I smoothed,
all the fronts I wore for you, the vigils that I kept,
all the brunt I bore for you, all the winks unslept -

it all feels long ago today - the worry and the doubt,
thinking what might be safe to say, trying to work you out.
You were good at forgetting me - now when I think of you,
it’s like a play I can’t recall but know that I sat through.

It’s a shame I can’t remember all the ins and outs,
who said what to whom, or what the fuss was all about.
Then I’d be a proper poet - wistful, mournful, sad,
finding novel poetic ways to say I feel bad.

I’m glad there’s more to me than you - this much I can write -
despite it all – you were never more than a1 to my life.

1 footnote

Lucia Ward lives and works in London. Her poetry has been commended in competitions and published in online journals.