Sorry

Have you ever become weary of someone who keeps doing something they've promised not to do, and then they say that they are sorry every time? It puts us in an awkward place because most of us want to be forgiving, but sometimes the routine can be tiresome and the sorry becomes meaningless. The poem below is a result of a number of people who seem to have a lot of drama in their life right now. A theme seems to be one person's inability to stay with the program and repeatedly saying sorry, thinking that it makes up for everything. So after listening to the drama from the other friend for the last two days, I wrote this piece, probably still in progress as the drama continues...sorry Bryan, a little on the serious side, so sorry, really, I'm sorry.

Sorry Among Sorries

Your sorries lay scattered like gravel among gravel
Where kindness blends with harshness
Where “I’m sorry,” means little to nothing anymore.

Your sorries form a heap at the bottom of a landslide
Boulders among boulders
Falling randomly regardless of appearance or weight.

Your sorries are an avalanche hiding and sliding
Past contours and views
A trail of snow among snow
A blank slate upon which to write more sorries--
But this time I’m gone.

I’m seeking a place where respect overshadows regret
Where ambiguity is given the benefit of the doubt
Where open minds do not close doors to change
A place where sorries can be held in one hand
A place where sorries are unique
Not an action following routine reactions
That assume forgiveness.

I’m seeking a place where sorries are so few
And so perfectly set that they become
Precious stones.
For now, your sorries continue to lay scattered
Like gravel among gravel
Boulders among boulders
Snow among snow.

Consequently, you wander alone
Inside a fortress of sorries
A fortress filled with sand
Where you sift with a closed hand
Your reasons among reasons among reasons
To say, “I’m sorry.”