Kelsey Anderson Blog Post 1, 1075

In the poem "My Ex-Husband" by Gabriel Spera, the speaker, an unmarried single woman, shares her mixed emotions about her ex-husband to another man before going with him on a romantic date. Her lengthy monologue about her ex is definitely quite the unorthodox subject to discuss with a seemingly brand new lover. The speaker's extreme emotions towards her ex, in the form of both disgust and adoration, contradict with each other and reveal a paradox that is resolved in the end when she realizes she has a new lover to spend time with now, a man who will help her forget about her ex-husband.

In the first couple lines of the poem, the speaker addresses the subject of the poem, revealing "That's my ex-husband pictured on the shelf, smiling as if in love." The phrase "as if in love" subtly implies that he no longer loves her, and reveals she loves him, yet ironically, doesn't at the same. Afterwards the listener, her new lover,  is first mentioned, when she slips in a hint of adoration towards him in a parenthetical aside, "Kind of a shame to waste [the picture frame] on [my ex-husband], but what could I do? (Since I haven't got a photograph of you.)" This both increases and reduces the importance of the phrase, separating it from the rest of the sentence. Symbolically, this represents her separating the new lover with her ex-husband, both degrading and praising both men at the same time. Later on in the poem, she shows another example of her multiple reactions when she says, "he seems like any woman's perfect catch, [...] But snapshots don't show what's beneath the skin." The word "snapshots" goes back to the picture itself; In a photo people seem picture perfect, but an image shows only his "picture perfect" looks, not his imperfect personality. The speaker then goes on about what he did wrong, implying that he cheated on her, perhaps with more than just one woman, with phrases such as, "Such stuff Was all too well rehearsed, I soon enough
Found out," "he flirted - fine! But flirted somehow a bit Too ardently*, too blatantly" and "but what bimbo In the steno pool went without the same Such kisses?" In the end she reveals they got divorced, saying "So, I made some calls, filed some claims, All kisses stopped together." Overall, the woman lets out everything her husband did that caused her hatred (despite her ironic sentimental love for him) as a way of implying that her new lover should not do the same, or they will no longer be together. In the end, the speaker quickly changes the subject from her ex to her new lover, asking "Shall we go? I'm in The mood for Chez Pierre's, perhaps, tonight," yet requests "As well, of course, though I'd prefer not to go To any place with checkered tables," referring back in time to the dinner dates she and her ex went on, and implying she still both loves and hates her ex, and doesn't want to be reminded of the memories.