Three’s Company

Two identical cereal bowls with floral designs and a utensil stem sticking out. One is tipped to the left, the other to the right.

Lucy’s having a baby.

Her hormones and my moods

a combustible cocktail, mixing up

blasting emotions

and shouting matches.

Mid-fight over yet another

forgotten dirty cereal bowl,

—mine—

I walk away,

splash water on my face

at the bathroom sink

give Lucy time to realize

she’s overreacting but she

smashes through the bathroom door

with renewed rage

while I’m drying

my face on a towel.

A towel currently hanging

on the back

of that bathroom door.

Four of the same bowl at varying orientations.

I see a flash,

howl

as blood

drips

and Lucy

immediately drops down

to catch me

so fiercely sorry.

Her boyfriend fiancé finds us

hugging and rocking

and crying together

on the bathroom floor, and

he has had

enough.

The two of them love me,

but not as a roommate,

I have to go.

Eleven of the same bowl at varying orientations spread across the right and bottom of the page.