Deprived of Sahara's company
I looked around the room
and spied her purse
at the foot of the chair
I went through every item
in a little notebook
written with an eyebrow pencil
I found the very poem
which you are reading now—
the writing smudged
but word for word:
“Straighten up, little warrior,” it ended
“It's not as though you
wasted your life
by loving me.”