Broken Heater (Part 2)

Another year older

Another day colder

The heat went out again this year,

Almost like a tradition

I’m single again

Almost certainly a tradition

And the pipes have burst

Which is not surprising since they’ve had no heat since Tuesday

Feeling the icy touch of Friday

And the world seems to have stopped

Frozen

Paused like a scene from a movie

A scene in which a small man with glasses sneaks into the basement to see rain from the ceiling and ice stalactites forming around him

I wonder what his first thought might have been

“Seems right”

“Uh oh”

“Not again”

Or some other proclamation of guiltless reprieve

But isn’t that always the way?

If you don’t keep them warm the pipes will break down

And if you don’t give them love they will never return

And you’d think they would have learned

You’d think it never should have gotten this bad

And then I think of the loves I have lost

The relationships I have let go

And I begin to wonder how long we were without heat

How long I stayed without love

And why I let myself stay broken

I was told the damage was too much for one plumber

I feel like I’ve heard that one before

They’ll be back again on Monday

And Monday is a new week

With new suitors

With new opportunities to be fixed

To repair what has been broken

To return what has been lost

I just hope I can make it til Monday

Because the darkest days are on Sundays

And all I have left in this broken apartment

Is light.