“My Dating Situation Has Gotten So Disappointing that My Wife is Trying to Give Me Dating Advice” by Tyler Hurula
She suggests I send a picture of our dog in a bowtie to someone I have a crush
on—laughs when I say I was thinking of doing exactly that and came
to that conclusion on my own, thanks—but I ask what to follow it
up with, and neither of us is good at this so we set up a photoshoot.
I tell my therapist maybe no one wants to date me
because I talk too much about poetry, and even my dog is named Poet
after me. They tell me to find someone to remind me what makes me cool,
so I inform my wife she needs to write a song (about me). She delivers
with a sense of immediacy. I tell her I’d better get lucky when I invite
someone over for a date. When she comes home she asks did you get lucky?
My friend tells me the guy I’m talking to looks like my wife and she delights
in teasing me for having a type. I wrap my arms around her from behind
when I come home from another mediocre date and she smiles as I watch
us from over her shoulder. I ask her what she sees in someone so messy,
and she tells me a little mess is nothing against a forever timeline, and I know
if I am never loved by anyone else, I will have always gotten lucky in love.
About Tyler Hurula
She/They
Tyler Hurula (she/they) is the pinkest poet and explorer based in Denver, Colorado. She strives to be the most queer and polyamorous person they can be and much of their poetry reflects these themes. Author of chapbook Love Me Louder (Querencia Press). Their poems can be found in numerous publications including Anti-Heroin Chic, South Broadway Press, Boats Against the Current, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, and more. They are the assistant editor and events coordinator with Beyond the Veil Press. You can find her on Instagram @theprettypinkpoet.