The Opposite of Love by Jessica Siobhan Frank

I’d prefer apathy to his blatant
hatred of the woman
he’s falling out of love with.

She hollers and he responds.
I have to watch.

I hold him up,
my body is his backboard
my affections keep him from falling,
but I ache for his attention
towards me, towards us,
the future he promised me,
the feverish words he used
when he was wooing me.
Let me take care of you.

I said he was wounded,
needed time to heal,
a year at least,
even if that meant we missed out
on each other. I loved him that much.
But his words were sure:
A year is arbitrary. I’ve found you now.
His convictions more solid than mine.

And now I’m here for him,
dressed in armor.
I know more about her
than he knows about me.
His anger for her his favorite
thing to talk about.
And I hate being right.



Jessica Siobhan Frank is an MFA candidate at McNeese State University. Her work has appeared in Ninth Letter (online), Cliterature, Portage Magazine, and other publications. She currently lives in Louisiana, but is originally from the Chicago area.