By Maggie Bowyer
You’ve got a new girlfriend / New apartment / New city / Everything you need to forget me / and I hope you do/ I hope your heart healed, crusted over completely and when the scab fell off, I didn’t even leave a mark / I
hope your gossip sessions are a little more secret and your relationships a little less toxic / I hope you meet
another queer girlie who has the patience to teach you not to assume pronouns, someone grounded enough to
teach you why making fun of someone’s sexuality is not humorous, it’s homophobic, and someone radical
enough to stand their ground about how men can get abortions too / I hope you’re honest with each other / I
hope you stop rage following (not just me) because I really want you to be happy / I hope you realize you create your reality / Maybe this last one is selfish, but I hope one day you see my name in the used bookstore (the only kind I’m worthy of) / See the poems I wrote about you about me / Maybe you’ll relate / or maybe it will fuel your hate / Either way, if you see yourself in these stories, know you were important to me.