Expecting by J.C. O'Neil

I bet you weren’t expecting
to see me tonight.
Here, shooting pool,
tipping it back
laughing
having fun.

I bet you expected me
to lock myself inside,
to close the blinds
and drown our memories,
cry,
miss you.

I bet you didn’t expect me
To flirt with the bartender/
the drunk bridesmaid/
the pretty dancing brunette.
Living like a bachelor.

The truth?

I didn’t expect to feel this way.
I expected to wallow in pain,
in the misery of losing you.
Losing true love.

I realized something.
The love we had
wasn’t true,
not really.

It didn’t take long to see

you freed me from the dungeon
where you tortured
my heart.

J.C. O'Neil is a writer living in Cheswick, PA. He studied English Writing at the University of Pittsburgh in Greensburg. Between balancing work life, writing life, and family life (a beautiful wife, a sassy three year old, and fearless one year old) he's managed to have his poetry published by the Mad Poets Society and his stories in the Authors' Tale Anthology series.