Just after my biggest romantic split—when my first marriage imploded—my ex and I had to divide up our shared valuables. Fortunately, we had few. We had married with little money and three years later, there was still little money to divide between us. That was the easy part anyway—all we had to do was halve the bank accounts. The harder valuables were the tangibles ones: wedding gifts, furniture we had purchased, and, for me, our plates and silverware. These were everyday items that had meaning for me. 

When I read “I Took All the Spoons When I Left You” by April Ford, it reminded me of that time with my ex and that feeling of not wanting to care but still caring, of not wanting to hurt but still hurting, of not wanting—even though I knew I should—for the other person to be happy, wanting the other person to still hurt, too, at least a little (or a lot). 

Yes, sometimes a little poem can bring up big emotions. Which is why I like poetry.

During the month of April, to celebrate National Poetry Month, I will be sharing a poem each week with you from a contemporary writer. I hope to pique your interest in poetry (if it needs to be piqued) and to show you that a really great poem can be accessible to all.

My good friend Robert McCready has partnered with me once again to recite the poems on his Evening Magic YouTube Channel. You can view Robert reciting April Ford’s poem here.

This poem was originally published in Montréal Writes and is published here with permission from the author. You can learn more about April Ford here.

Photo by Marcin Skalij from Unsplash.com.

NOTE: I realize this is a distressful time for all. I considered whether to go on as planned with my National Poetry Month blog series or to cancel it, but I think any sense of normalcy is a good thing, and I hope these posts distract you (in a good way) from these strange times. May all of you be well and be safe.