by Ace Boggess

[question asked by Savannah Dudley]

My ex-wife

didn’t

like the taste

of oily burnt asphalt

boiled in the morning

like a candle lit

for prayer.

My ex-wife—

I want to say

maybe

that’s why

we didn’t last,

but there are

other reasons

we both

store

in suitcases

labeled

resentment.

I gave her cause,

as she gave me.

Coffee

didn’t do that

to us

or lack of it,

although it makes me angry

on mornings

I don’t get enough

warmth,

time,

serenity

of eye-opening

joe. I confess

I am in love

with bitterness.