This poem was part of my portfolio for the poetry module at university. Getting a 1st for the poetry module was undoubtedly the biggest shock of the three years I was there. I celebrated by buying a bottle of absinthe, as poets drink absinthe, don’t they? This poem came about because I had the lines ‘I want to smile / but smiling’s not appropriate’ buzzing around my head and knew they had to be in a poem and yeah, well, it would be a bit inappropriate to smile because your husband’s just killed himself after finding you in bed with someone else, wouldn’t it?
Inappropriate Behaviour
You see us in the bedroom,
smile sadly,
slip off your gold band,
leave silently.
One week later
it’s your funeral.
I’m on one side
of your grave,
with my lover on the other.
I want to smile
but smiling’s not appropriate.