Hate Notes

by Vi Keeland

nearly turned into one of those snooty bitches.

Now I knew why—he’d found the love

of his life, again.

God knows what I’d written that had qualified me.

How does one come to teach that?”

What would we call our demise . . . like . . . Death by Squirrel?”

tomorrow I’ll be reading about your plowing into an old

lady crossing the road.”

Maybe this was a lesson that I’m okay just as I am—alone and experiencing whatever life throws my way. Maybe I am enough.

“You came all this way because you thought I was here with a man?”

“This is the realest thing I’ve ever experienced. I want it all, Charlotte. I want to marry you, I want you to have my babies if that’s what you want, and I want to give you everything

you’ve ever dreamed of.”

To my one true love and soulmate, Charlotte, I don’t need the help of a poet to articulate my love for you. But to try to reduce it to a couple of sentences could never do my feelings justice. Even my wildest dreams could never have conjured up the level of love in my heart today. You’re beyond my wildest dreams. My love for you is infinite. You. Are. Everything. Your love, Reed