the ring i’m wearing
is on my right hand, not my left
and it’s on my middle finger, not my ring finger
and it seems appropriate
you didn’t even buy me that ring
and we weren’t even married
i bought the ring at a street fair
on belmont avenue in chicago
on the day of our first date
where we watched pulp fiction at your apartment
and i asked you to sit closer
to me
and you kissed me
the ring isn’t a complete circle
there are two stones that don’t quite meet
and there’s a void in the middle
and that was appropriate
cause you didn’t even buy it for me
and we weren’t even married
i’ve missed you, you know
i can’t even pass the apartment building you lived in any more
i remember when you told me
that someone was shot in that building once
and that maybe it was haunted
but they were shot for money
they were robbed
and this time you just slipped away in your sleep
so this time i was robbed
when one of the stones fell out of my ring
i was sad
but i think you were more sad
you wanted to replace the shiny purple stone
but i said no
and now i still wear the ring
and a stone is still missing
and isn’t it appropriate
and we weren’t even married
i’ve missed you, you know
and with your absence the bad memories vanish
where you were someone else once
where you were someone once
where you were alive once
i forget that there was so much about you i hated
because you’re not here to remind me
so with this ring, i remember
because now nothing is complete anymore
and everything is missing now
and isn’t it appropriate
that there’s no next time for us
and we weren’t even married
you jumped from an airplane once
and you promised that you’d force me to go with you
the next time
Scars Publications and Design
in conjunction with Penny Dreadful Press
first edition
copyright @ 2004 Scars Publications and Design
827 Brian Court, Gurnee IL 60031-3155 USA
Editor@scars.tv
http://scars.tv
and assistance from Freedom & Strength Foundation, Troy Press, Hawthorne Press & Dried Roses Press
printed in the United States of America
writings @ 1979-2004 Janet Kuypers
book design @ 1998-2004 Scars Publications and DesignThis book, as a whole, is fiction, and no correlation should be made between events in the book and events in real life. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.Information about past books is available upon request through Scars Publications and Design. Materials from the literary magazines “Children, Churches and Daddies” and “Down in the Dirt” are available on line at http://scars.tv, as are .mp3 files, .ra files, .aif files, .au files, .wav files .mov and mpeg files of Kuypers, both reading her work and singing with three sets of musicians.Oeuvre is published through Scars Publications and Design, whose publisher is a member/minister through the Universal Life Church. Scars Publications and Design, the logo and associated graphics @ 1979 - 2004. All rights reserved. Kuypers and Scars Publications and Design welcome your comments, tips, compliments or complaints. Direct all comments and suggestions to the e-mail addresses listed above.The definition of oeuvre (the works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole) is from the Websters Unabridged 2001 Dictionary.