The Green Card Marriage

we were young      fragrant

as bread in the oven

we let ourselves

fall

on the floor   embracing

as if married

the cat   black      fierce

sleeping between us

you for a green card

me because it didn't matter

we played it out

traveled

Lima  Quito   La Paz

unable to stay

in any one place      distance

holding us together

divorce

the most normal part

of our marriage      you hated

the way I sat

the way I ate    the way

I'd failed to kiss your father

in the airport      decades later

I went to your memorial

those who attended    knew you

after you stopped

drinking      your old friends

who remembered you

drunk and fighting in bars

stayed home

strangers I spoke to

were surprised I’d been your wife