Dave Bonta's "Ex" is only a few lines long, but it packs in a lot of wordplay. It starts with the letter itself: an x, the mark someone makes to sign a letter or a kiss. Then the poem turns the word "ex" into a puzzle. An ex is a former partner, but here it also looks like a crossing of two lines, "a contrary meeting / of I and I." Two selves cross paths and pull in opposite directions.
The last lines, "standing in for the second self / that ivy in the garden," are harder to pin down. Ivy clings to things and grows over them, so it may suggest how a past relationship, or an old version of yourself, keeps creeping back. Judging by the imagery, the speaker seems to feel a quiet, slightly wry unease rather than anger. The mood is hushed and thoughtful, like noticing something overgrown in a corner of your life and not quite knowing whether to cut it back.