Sorry

Sorry –
so much inadequacy
bundled into one word
as if five letters
can convey
depths of regret,
shock, dismay

seems I am the spark
to your lighter fluid –
unintentional, I swear

still reeling
from the aftermath
of the explosion

attempting to
deconstruct the
formula –
precautionary

I am sorry –
that you are enraged,
that you are so obviously disappointed
that you are consumed with resentment –
except, it is sadness, not regret that I feel.

I cannot own this,
was always honest,
forthright,
did not feed your expectations

Besides,
learned long ago –
we don’t have the power
to make anyone
feel anything
least of all,
sorry.

So I’m not sorry,
but maybe
if you could just tell me,
give me an inkling
of what you might need
I can help us out of this hole.

(Prompt for this poem came from the Story Circle Network.  The invitation was to write about associations or experiences with the word sorry.)

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VJ

Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

10 thoughts on “Sorry”

  2. Sorry is like the word love. People use both words so loosely. Sometimes it’s difficult to know what is the truth and what is not. Lovely poem. So beautifully written.

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  3. Great poem! “Sorry” can open discussion … but much prefer “Oops” or “Oh no! I didn’t mean to upset you!” I have learned (the hard way) that a LOT of people are conditioned to wait for “sorry” before they will open ears and mind to anything further. So I say it, even when I am not all that sorry for anything other than the other person’s misjudgment of whatever. I like how your poem comes around to NOT regret.

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