I am the distant, divorced, defiant daughter
of parents who persistently ponder
why I can’t just settle for simple.

I trust these trouble-makers to tell
me the honest, blunt truth.

I married simple, and simply put, I smiled sweetly
while he wiped away our forever
without wrestling with whether or not it would
kill me.

When you awake to the fact, that-
“good” is an adjective
not a personality trait,
simple stops looking so sweet.