When she’d announced our relationship was
going down the pan, I still didn’t expect to find
those Lovehearts at the bottom of the toilet bowl,
not yet flushed away – and that took some time
as they nestled into the nadir of the bend. Love Bug,
Hold Me and Just Us, expressions of affection
dissolving into mixed messages before finally
having nothing more to say and romance at an end.

With Valentine’s Day only weeks away, this has
been the most final of lavatorial executions, love’s
farewell repeating as a watery neologism in the
surprise of a fluid reminder further down the line.
Like lifting the lid on a once-lovers’ exposé
here is the real dishing of dirt as it all washes away.

[a found poem – not based on my experience [!] – but one for those not bathed in chocolate and roses and other metaphors today…]