It was my first Christmas in California.
\nI had met him just a few months
\nprior to that night.<\/p>\n
He seemed so sweet,
\nand so quirky at the same time.
\nAnd seeing someone else, of course.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s always the way it is in my life.
\nLike a magnet for married men,
\nI attract them like flies to a picnic.<\/p>\n
Ah, but he was a charmer!
\nBlue eyed blonde, about my age,
\nathletic, and even played the guitar.<\/p>\n
We were a perfect match, I thought;
\nme, a singer, songwriter, poet, and
\nhim, a charming, quirky guitarist.<\/p>\n
We went caroling with the music club
\nin which I had first met him.
\nHe hadn\u2019t told his girlfriend about us\u2026 yet.<\/p>\n
She had to have known! All women know
\nwhen their men have wandering eyes.
\nShe knew. Indeed, she knew his nature.<\/p>\n
Just like all the men I attract, he was another
\nRomeo. A cad who loved women in general,
\nbut no one in particular. Just another user.<\/p>\n
I hate that about him now, though I know
\nit was nothing malicious. He was, like the others,
\njust a broken man who learned love the wrong way.<\/p>\n
But that night, I was convinced he would be
\nmy second husband. I sure know how to pick \u2018em!
\nCharmers, like rattlesnakes disguised as men.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s never me that approaches them, but perhaps
\nit should be! Though, come to think of it,
\nthat has never worked out either.<\/p>\n
I am still single nearly thirty years after I divorced
\nin court, and more than thirty years since I divorced him
\nin my heart \u2013 that man who never was MY husband.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t quite understand why no man has ever been mine.
\nNot that I need ownership, or that I tend too much toward
\njealousy \u2013 then again, maybe I do. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
I see couples all around me who are happy together.
\nOften, they\u2019re attractive men with just so-so women,
\nand sometimes they\u2019re not so handsome with real beauties.<\/p>\n
I see how comfortable they are with one another.
\nWhy can\u2019t I have that, and also have the thrill of passion
\nat the same time? The electricity I felt with all the married ones!<\/p>\n
I\u2019m old now, though. Old enough to have too many incomplete projects
\nand not really enough time to take care of a man.
\nThat\u2019s my excuse for all these Christmases alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was my first Christmas in California. I had met him just a few months prior to that night. He seemed so sweet, and so quirky at the same time. And seeing someone else, of course. That\u2019s always the way it is in my life….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3442,680,267],"class_list":["post-75690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","tag-2020poetrymarathon","tag-poetrymarathon","tag-hour-18"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75695,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75690\/revisions\/75695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}