“Make love to me.” Leave her. Stay for me. Not the children. Me. Break bread with me. Broken woman. Break me, bring your body down on mine, break it, break me in this bed. Love me, broken me, the me you broke. Broken horses are the only horses we allow our daughter to ride. We taught our children to be careful. We taught them to care for things they want to last. Make this marriage last. Care for me. Here, in this bed, unbreak the sacrament. Care. He turned, and walked away. Broken promises. Broken marriage. Broken children. Broken life.
Megan Reilley is an emerging writer whose work explores the expectations of female identity, mothering, female bodies, and the bodies of our children. Find Megan on Twitter @lifeoreilley5.