Magnanimous

When I gave her my heart
It did not seem important
It would never again be mine.

I suppose I thought the matter
Of a heart
Such an intangible
That the notion
Of its absence
Seemed unimportant.

I could not have been more mistaken.

I placed my heart in her care.
For a brief time
She cherished it
Proved careful with it.
I felt no alarm.
No alarm at all
Until her fateful call
With those prescient words
“We need to talk.”

That never bodes well.

Her child needed her
Biological father.
Her family needed to be whole
Intact
The way it used to be.

How could I refute that?

I did not dispute her.
I did not resist.
I could not be the one
To destroy a home
In which there was still
Hope.

I wanted her to be successful.
If there was a chance
For happiness
With an intact family
Including a
Daddy and a Mommy
Then that's what I wanted
For her.

How damned magnanimous of me.

She kissed me goodbye
With the finality
Of a coup de gra^ce.

She drove away
Crested the hill
And I never saw her again.

She gave me back
The little sweater I bought her
The book I gave her.

But she kept the one thing I most needed.
She kept my heart.