I Should Know By Now

by James Babbs

the other day
I was walking around the mall
something
I don’t do very often
but I was trying to kill some time
and when I walked past Macy’s
I started thinking about her again
because
that was one of the stores
I remember
she liked to shop at and
why the hell do I
keep feeling this way
I should know by now
she’s not coming back and
why can’t I just get over it
maybe
I should stop
the next woman I see
and ask her
if she could please tell me
what the hell it is women want
and
I could scream it
really loud
maybe
grab her and shake her
so she’d understand
exactly what I mean