In Verse: Tammy Lynn Michaels Laments Loss of Wife, Money

Tammy Lynn Michaels says ex-wife Melissa Etheridge has screwed her and the couple's children out of money.

Etheridge, conversely, has seemingly proven in court that this isn't the case.

THG is not here to take sides, at least not in this important matter. But we are here to give Michaels props for the most creative way to publicly air one's grievances. Tammy Lynn has taken to her blog to post the following poem:

"pays all the bills"
not entirely true

"pays all the bills she chooses to pay"
"pays all the bills her people thinks
are important enough to pay"
is more accurate

when i went to get cash
just last week
for the three of us to eat
nothing

today i was shopping for birthday decor
4th next sunday!
little cash for lunch?
nope- not enough funds
no food
"pays all her bills"
not entirely true

my medical bills?
yes- insurance covers it all
for a small monthly fee
the house? i didn't pick it out
they did
the kids' education?
she chose the private schooling
i'm fine if they're in public

using my kids as pawns? in boston?
never
i had a choice to come to LA
-see so many thing were bleeding
and i took the choice
her lawyer lies about
me using the kids as pawns -
he should have looked at the schedule
before we left LA- Boston was tentative-
and the silence from her regarding my actions
breaks me, as she lets the world think
(again) something else is true
than what is and was.

she plays the games with her lawyer now
by being quiet.

i sit here quietly watching her people
launch campaigns against me on the 'net
smudgin' and sludgin'
but they don't know nothin'
what i came into the relationship with
commercial cash and television stashes
working here and there in the marriage

and now some sit in tiny judgement
not knowing how much is fact
how far it goes back
how much is fiction
and how much is opinion.

but i can tell you i've turned from that machine hungry hungry too many times now– and i might never trust another soul again.

and i don't think i know what love is, or a promise. and romance? smoke and mirrors, ladies!!! smoke and mirrors! don't fall for it! it's all a line up for bull that'll leave you with saggy boobs and stretch marks in the end.

and to be honest?

what the fuck is marriage all about anyway? i thought i did everything i was supposed to do. support support support. love family, be there, love, right? all for naught or have i still everything to learn about love? and that was nothing? or the letting go of this is THEE LESSON of loving. argh.

someone told me that chemotherapy just messes with a brain chemistry, changes the brain, the person, and makes them just in general different. they might b meaner, or illogical, often imbalanced, or whatever. but they just don't come out the same. hardly ever, i am told. and they can't help it. it just is.

and i think about that alot too.
posted by Tammy, midwestern girl/Mom

Emmanuelle Vaugier Emmy Rossum Erica Leerhsen Erika Christensen Estella Warren