I cut your nose off despite your face.
Sigmund Freud once speculated
that a man could be in love with a woman 
for six years before having any idea.

It’s embarrassing—like that time
I showed up on the dance floor 
and you were dancing with her
and all my friends were there
and I felt Canadian or provincial.

The symptoms of having no nose: 
loss of smell, foods don’t taste 
the same as they used to,

stress-induced cardiomyopathy, 

shock and disbelief, 

nausea, fatigue, nothing can bear nostrils, 

constant or frequent crying jags, 

feeling empty,
feeling like a sneeze is coming on totally all the time, 

feelings of loneliness, 

activities that were previously interesting no longer are, 

transmission of infection through sneezing is no longer presented as a possibility, 

anger, no more wearing glasses, 

The Thousand Yard Stare, 
no need for a neti pot, 
apathy, 
chronic nasal dryness