Conflict Resolution

This poem came from April 13th's prompt for NaPoWrimo.


I cannot be sorry
When the words
I must speak
To apologize
Are not my own.

They are an ill-fitting suit.
A dog’s harsh barks to a man lost in soundless reverie.
Noises that erupt from my throat
Like harsh coughs and growling.


The feeling of knife

To a ceramic plate.

The words needed here
Are not words of my own invention.


They belong to another.
They belong with another.

You are not
Able to accept my borrowed
Apologies.

It would require you
To use a feeling


A feeling foreign to you.


We speak in pidgin languages
To get anything done
To move on with our lives.
To step forward
Beyond transgression and acceptance
When neither of us really
Wants anything to do with any part of the situation.


I will say words
You will make faces
Nothing will be genuine,

But in this moment,

We will find closure.