At some point during my childhood

I decided that I would apologise for everything, just in case.

I must have done so many things wrong as a kid

That it was just easier to apologise for everything I did

And I found it was a very easy habit to adopt

Once started, I’ve never really since stopped

And pretty soon, in all forms of communication

I was using the word “sorry” as a sort of punctuation

Now as an adult, I realise that it drives people mad

“Stop apologizing!” ‘Oops, sorry!” It’s really rather sad

Who would have thought the act of a simple apology

Could develop to become a full-blown pathology?

 

Well you know what? Enough.

 

I think I’ve reached an age

When I’m ready to break free from my self-made cage

I don’t need to be sorry for being on this earth

And I’m going to make the most of it, for what it’s worth

I didn’t ask to be born, but I’ll go with what I’ve got

And there’s nothing anyone’s gonna do about it, like it or not.

 

I’m not going to apologise for the way I’m dressed

Or for having broad shoulders, or (ahem!)-cup breasts

I’m not sorry for having teeth that are out of line

Or turned-out feet or a mis-curved spine

If you find I’m not pretty enough or take up too much space

I’m not forcing you to look at my backside - or my face

I’m not going to apologise for being me

Take it or leave it - what you get is what you see

 

And what you get with me, is also what you hear

I’m not going to apologise for speaking, or having ideas

Or for saying them out loud, or for raising my voice

Ok, I’m making you listen, right now you have no choice

But I don’t think it’s much to ask, five minutes of your time

So I’m not sorry for writing a poem, and I’m not sorry for making it rhyme

I’m not sorry for who I am, or what I say, or how I act

Because I know I’m doing my best – and I can’t do more than that.

 

Now sometimes I feel I should apologise to my kids

They didn’t ask to appear either, and it’s my fault that they did

And I fear so much for their future, it seems like giving birth was a crime

With the world in ever more chaos and the planet running out of time

And perhaps for that we’re all guilty, for doing too little, too late

But even there, I’m not prepared to shoulder all the weight

Yes, I may consume too much, take too long in the shower

Or sometimes leave the lights on, but I’m not one of the ones in power

Who’ve rigged the whole damn system, for their own personal gain

I’m not signing laws to rape the land or send the climate down the drain

I’m not the one that’s living like a parasite on others

I’m not the one dropping the bombs, or tearing kids from their mothers

I’m not stealing from the poor, condemning those in need

They’re screwing over us all, just to feed their selfish greed

 

So to the ones flogging our future:

This poem is for you.

How come the ones that should apologise

Are the ones that never do?