Elanor, spelled without an “e”
Your Dad named you after somebody
with a bit part in The Lord of the Rings
You tried valiantly to take up smoking after high school
You hacked and spit through the first few packs
But you couldn’t afford it for more than three weeks

There’s nothing bad about you
Anyone could tell us
That we don’t already know

Walter, from a Wisconsin town
You dreamed your childhood away
Loved a girl you were too afraid of
You ran away from there to here, from her to us
You’ve talked about her for almost two hours 
But you’re definitely over her.  You definitely don’t love her. 

There’s nothing bad about you
You just freeze up
When you have to tell the truth.

Me, I’m boring.  There’s not much to say.

Patty, you were big since you were little
It could hardly matter why – you just are
No treadmill or toilet ever changed it
Your first tattoos were bluebirds on your breasts
You used your sister’s ID to get them when you were fifteen 
But your Mom didn’t notice for weeks

There’s nothing bad about you
You just were born
In a body you can’t stand to live in.

Valentine’s Day again
Walter pays for the beer
we play cards,
we swap jokes,
and if Elanor has too much
and starts stealing glances at me,
I can usually pretend pretty well
that I don’t notice
I’ve only had two Valentines in my life
Here, there’s no shame in that

Patty changes out my music for hers
Says I’m putting everyone to sleep
Walter wonders out loud if the whole lot of us are

Just pathetic
Holed up in the dorm on Valentine’s Day
Not a one of us with a Valentine

Not a sweetheart in sight
He says we should call ourselves
The Lonely Hearts Brigade
But Patty shrugs
And Elanor pretends not to hear him

And I crack one of those rare jokes

That actually gets everyone

Really laughing
I don’t feel lonely at all