Black History Month: I Am Done With Apologies
I am done with apologies
(after Wendell Berry)
by Kathleen Wenaden
with apologies for what is done
what is done and for what is left undone
what is undone for
for what we do not know
for the anger and corners cut for
for the jewels crumbs of life I miss
In those corners for
for the white-hot anger
for the poverty of many, and for
for the grief I carry
fFor my patients lost young
the lives lost young and for
for the hands I didhave not hoeld for
for the prayers I offered
yet did not deliver prvideay
for the shards of pain I hold
the sliver of pain
I hold, yet give back to you
as we dance in corn-flower meadows.
for the cups of tea
I wanted to sip t with you
for the days I hoped to live and for
for the days I lived through for
for the wild places in me
and for the silence in you.
the silence in you.
I am done with apologies.
I am so done with apologies.
I am done.
Kathleen Wenaden
I am poet of Sri Lankan heritage, currently living in Wivenhoe, Essex and I describe myself as mother, medic, pilgrim, poet.