don’t test me

it wasn’t the argument that ended things for you,
the one you held on to and wrote about, the one
you felt was so demeaning and mean — 
it was a simple question — and you wanted to give a 
simple, honest answer

that’s it
that’s all

you didn’t know what would happen
you didn’t even know what you wanted
to happen, but you lit the fuse that 
would eventually blast you
to smithereens

boom
poof

and all these years later we are both
asking what the hell were you thinking
to do things like that, to do everything
the hard way, every time

you don’t have to follow all the rules,
some say they were made to break,
and we’ve broken plenty, but now
i think we’ve broken each other

i’m not a Barbie you can put back in her box
and put on the shelf until you’re ready to play

i’m a woman in her prime, for real, and 
i feel like you’re wasting me, you’re wasting
our life together because all you can think about
is the life you left behind

wake up 
before i’m the one
to blow things up for good

Today’s poetry prompt words were: the argument, blasted, and Barbie.

_{Photo by Chandu J S on Unsplash}