ATONEMENT

 

It's not as though I refused to make amends

For the fault was mine, no intention to offend,

Said I regretted sincerely my sudden laughter,

And certainly I was out of line, and sorry after.

But can't you see how a casually innocent word,

said off the cuff, can cause a furore as you've never heard?

 

I could see she was wild with anger, her green eyes darting,

Though trying hard not to show it in our perfunctory parting.

“That's it,” I thought, “our friendship's torn to shreds:

“I just cannot believe I did that, nor the reaction she normally dreads”

My prediction being on the mark, I saw her again once only,

To tie loose ends, return of gifts etcetera. Intense and lonely.

 

O yes, I hurt her feelings, but that was long ago, so long

That I can hardly recall the time, but my guilt was still so strong

That after all the years, yet I could not admit my boorish behaviour.

My embarrassment lingered like some stubborn saviour,

Or perhaps a Doppelgänger (my memory haunted me so)

Like a companion wraith by my side wherever I'd go.

 

Then, on a whim I turned one day to my spectral friend and speculated:

“You know, we've been together all these many years,

Don't you think it's time to forget about tantrums and tears?”

I could see her eyes were misting, her features twisting,

As she quietly mouthed the words: “I forgive you.”

 

Chris Hubbard

2020