was not first rate.
We didn’t wake each day
and thank God for bringing us together
or embrace passionately at the airport
before a long goodbye.

I know you were unenthused about my drinking
and felt awkward rubbing my back when I cried.

But there were days when I could hear you humming the jingle
I’d been singing all week—

and midnights when I’d find my indifferent foot tapping
to your made-up beat.