Roommate

We sleep so close to each other
just across the narrow hallway
in this modest little house

I wonder what will happen when I leave you again
so much time wasted on each other
we should be friends by now

and people hate us together
it's so wrong-headed
the way we can be when things are going

all our shared days filled with uncomfortable orbits:
you in the living room (Judge Judy ad nauseum)
me in the "office" (the spare bedroom/hiding place)

a room that used to be your shrine
to him, now gone
his diplomas and accolades still framed and hung

As time passes I realize
we've never really known each other
Funny, but not in a way that makes me laugh

I would pity you
but you'd never let me
Chimera, python, Gorgon at worst

small frightened woman
responsible for a staggering number of
gigantic productions

in your tiny world
you've worked to be a goddess
not realizing that time changes human loyalties

as a river changes course: slowly, mysteriously, painfully
pushing what was once treasure on your altar
under the ever-moving water
to sleep alone beneath the silt