On Seeing an Ex-Husband on the Cheese Line of the Gourmet Grocery Store

by Meredith Trede

His eyes dart through a physical-asset
inventory; he asks, was I wondering,
as he gestures to the contents of his cart,
about his expanded tastes, apparently
each product reminds him of a country
he and his new wife (she too busy to work
for wages) have seen—and so on and so far
from our first trip to France, then new to travel
though after only one year already old
to each other, to Paris and my falling
in love with and knowing I was loved by
every man I met, anything but myself,
aglow with francomania—then
his tone changes and brings me back to
the surface: as he was saying just now,
am I listening, what have I been doing,
and I hold the high ground, managing not
to brag about myself on the cheese line.

Meredith Trede’s poem “On Seeing an Ex-Husband on the Cheese Line of the Gourmet Grocery Store” appeared in PARIS REVIEW Fall 1994 issue. Her latest collection is Tenement Threnody.