Anna, Emma, I turn to you—as experts
on adultery, though you’re only fiction—
for advice on conducting an affair.
How to meet him, to start with.  Not a ballroom;
not these days.  At the office?  At a bar?
How to manage the black lace, the mascara,
all the tricks that are wasted on a husband.
And I’d like a lesson in how to lie,
how to hide what will only get more flagrant
every day with the brazenness of habit.
How to handle the twinges of remorse!
And what to do when the novelty goes stale—
how to keep the romance’s pages turning
faster when I can see the story’s end.