I'm keeping your shampoo and conditioner in case you ever come back to Texas, wind up staying in my bed and showering in my shower the next morning.

I'm keeping the soft, worn hospital blanket your mom "borrowed" from Fort Sam.

I'm keeping the David Yurman ring you gave me one Christmas. It was never really my style but you said it was the first ring you ever bought a girl. You were 28 years old when you said that.

I'm keeping some Skillets in the freezer in case you come back and maybe just want to come over for breakfast. This is your favorite breakfast (besides Eggs Benedict).

I'm keeping my hair long in case you come back even though I really want the Rihanna haircut. You always told me to keep it long. Anyway, it's so cliche for girls to cut their hair post breakup.

I'm keeping the smiles/sea/drinks/sunset picture of us in Cabo on my bookshelf so you can remember the trip when we fell in love in case you come back.

I'm keeping your phone number and all three email addresses in the manila file folder labeled "Canada Documents" tucked in back of a coat closet. I had to delete them from my phone and laptop because the temptation to use them became nearly unbearable after we surpassed our previous breakup record of 22 days. But I might need them, in case you come back.

I'm keeping up appearances in case you come back. No badmouthing or crying in public. I ran into the Sprockett guy's girlfriend last week. When she didn't recognize me I reflexively said, "I'm Harry's girlfriend." Her lightbulb went on and mine dimmed. "Well...ex," I corrected. "Ex-girlfriend." A quick recovery.

I'm keeping the Spanish Dagger you left at my place. You used to huff on its leaves to speed up photosynthesis. You'll want to see how well it's doing, if you come back.

I'm keeping the radio preset to 89.1 in case you come back and want to discuss something from NPR. You're the only person I know who wants to discuss what they heard on NPR. Actually you're the only person I know who listens to NPR.

I'm keeping a low profile.

You can't smoke, drink, cry, fuck or wish a person out of your system.

Can you write someone away? Maybe.

I'm keeping an open mind. To new possibilities.

And to old ones.

TAGS: breakups, getting over someone, surviving breakups

MEGAN POWER was born and raised in Atlantic Canada. Her first love is nonfiction, but a complicated affair with poetry began back when Mrs. Banfield drilled “Farewell to Nova Scotia”, a traditional folk song, into the first graders' heads with a passion bordering on sadism: Farewell to Nova Scotia, your sea-bound coast / Let your mountains dark and dreary be / For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed / Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me? She has lived in Japan, Mexico, the U.S. and the U.K. Her work has appeared in print in America West, Razor, San Antonio Express-News, Women's Health and Fitness, NSIDE and on various websites. She has taught adult education for more than ten years. Fireworks, gas station wine, trashtastic pop, Thursdays, smoked salmon and intertextuality bring her an effervescent kind of happiness. One of the original contributors at TNB (she wrote the inaugural post!), Megan is currently a Master's in Creative Writing student at Trinity University in Wales, where she spends unromantic amounts of time at a gray study carrel working on a collection of thematically linked short stories called Modern Monogamy. Hit her up at meganlpower@gmail.com or stop by her photo blog: http://meganpower.blogspot.com She thanks you very much for reading and commenting.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Essays, Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.