Not Whom I Once Was

NOT WHOM I ONCE WAS by JOHN M. ARRIBAS I Put a Ring on Her Finger, She Put a Ring Thru My Nose My Power Continuously Ebbs, Hers Constantly Grows I Once Liked the Green Color, She Says I’m Better in Blue I Once Kept a Rigid Schedule, She Orders What I’m to Do I Once Had a Black Shepard, He Was Faithful and True No Room for a Dog in the House, Only Her Cats Will Do I Once Played Cards with My Friends, Every Friday Night Says Gambling Is Sinful, Wagering Is the Devils Delight I Once Enjoyed Hunting, Had Several Weapons at Home Now in Storage, a Pleasure Permanently Postponed I Once Enjoyed Fishing Bringing Home a Catch or Two All Those Male Events Are Now Strictly Taboo I Once Had a Sleek Roadster with Spoilers and a T-top Too Old to Be a Teenager, Act like an Adult, Grow Up I Liked Wide Leather Shoes, Referred to as a Brogue Embarrassed to Be Seen with Me, I’m So out of Vogue I Liked to Wear a Beard Usually Goat Tee or Van Dyke Can’t Think of Anything I Do or Wear, That She Likes Over These Last Twenty Years She Transformed Me Into an Unrecognized Version of Who I Used to Be My Persona Now Permanently Altered, Beyond Repair Constantly Scolds Me, Raising Thoughts I’ll Not Share She Frequently Lectures Me, I Feel Totally Harried She Has the Gall to Say.“You’re Not the Man I Married”