August 2 is National Ex-Girlfriend Day, a time of self-reflection to realize the transformative power of relationships, even after it ceased to exist. This article is not ordinary; here we are sharing the poem “What Do You Say? By Don Mathis with you, a must-read on this ex-girlfriend day, so let’s begin.
What Do You Say? – by Don Mathis
Once, when this woman
I had eyes on
began to look at me
with those same sort of eyes,
we had the talk.
The talk when both of you
know that it is imminent
that you’re about to become intimate.
“What do you say,” she asked,
“when the person you’re in love with
turns out,
you’re not in love with anymore?”
I thought for a minute,
and surmised
she was seeing someone else
and wanted to break it off
gently, but conclusively.
I smiled,
thinking we were a sure thing now.
I frowned,
thinking she’s asking for a real solution.
I thought, and thought, and thought,
until the idea came to me.
“Why don’t you ask him that same question?”
She did, and soon after,
our relationship was realized.
We went out, dined, danced,
and we went in, loved, romanced.
I met her sister, her cousin, her mother.
She met my mom, my dad, my brother.
We went to concerts and clubs.
We went on road trips and long walks.
We watched seasons pass
and her daughter grow a year older.
It was bliss. It was ecstasy.
We never argued.
We shared our dreams and fantasies.
I was in heaven.
Then one spring day,
out of the blue,
she asked,
“What do you say
when the person you’re in love with
turns out,
you’re not in love with anymore?”
“I guess you could ask him that same question,”
I said,
and reached for my car keys.