It occurs to you that all those times
you got dumped by someone you adored
may have been the work of the unseen ones
protecting you from future heartache.

From the handsome one who liked to follow
every new flower that came across his path
to the ones who drank and/or smoked themselves stupid
to the inconstant or merely clueless,

you thank them all
for loving you, for teaching you
what you didn’t realize you needed to learn.

And you send great gobs of gratitude
to the guardian angels working overtime
on your behalf, as your late best friend often said—
she, who you suspect is now among them—

who keep you from stumbling over
even greater bumps in the road
and for the little ones you have
weathered along the way.