This tender, romantic little poem was inspired by an ad I once saw in the Personals, long before there were things like www.swingingheaven.com that nobody knows about anyway so I don’t know why I mentioned it really.
The ad went on and on and on, about how this poor woman loved her children more than life itself, how she’d been left on her own with them and how she’d never let anyone get between her and her most precious darlings. This was a Personals ad, don’t forget. Maybe not the best place to do all that. Right at the end after she’d bled all over the page, she cracked the best pay-off line I’ve ever heard:
“I’m looking for a man without any baggage.”
Without any sense of irony too, obviously. I hope she ended-up with the American she was looking for. It stuck in my head, the way things do, until I wrote her ad again.
All Of Your S**t
I’m looking for someone without any baggage
I’m a man/woman/couple looking for
A fun reliable person/partner/soulmate,
Someone tall/short and dark/light
Someone funny/serious and adventurous
Who likes staying at home and going out
Just chilling and doing the same things.
They say opposites attract. LOL.
I love my children, my family, my job, my home, my car
I’d lay down my life for them or never forgive them
Or someone for getting between me and them.
I love my pets and I don’t want any ties right now.
I like walking on beaches in the mountains.
I love going on Citybreaks in the countryside.
I want someone to be there for me when I need them
And I can’t handle anything heavy right now.
I want someone to build a future together.
I love having no responsibilities
And caring and going away whenever I like.
I love staying at home. I’m looking for a life partner,
A serious relationship, a one-night stand.
Who knows? Let’s see. Fun.
I’m married, single, divorced, separated,
Just looking and widowed;
It’s complicated. Delete as appropriate.
Or delete me as inappropriate.
Friend me. Chat. TXT. IM me.
Delete my posts on your timeline,
Block my profile and change your privacy settings
Even as you change mine, forever and ever
Until the next time.
Mark me as flagged until the Xs disappears from your MSGS
And quickly then the TXTS get shorter and less often
Until sooner than you thought
On the screen there’s no reply at all
And quite finally, without appeal and irrevocably
You just unfriend me.
So I’m looking for someone without any baggage.
October 2013