Another Lesson

Sorry, Mother, but I had to tell the truth,

Though it was bitter at times and

The words catapulted like they were escaping

A too bright light.  You left and my

Child’s heart had no way to cry;

Father announced that it was time already

To get on with the new life and

After all what would people say when

They discovered that the marriage ended.

Weren’t children of divorce a problem

Waiting to trouble the neighbors?

Sorry, Father, but I had to keep it all in

And hide my broken pieces lest

Someone sweep them into the garbage.

I know I went off and picked them up,

Putting them back together like a

Jackson Pollack painting, one piece out of

Alignment with the other and, while

Well drawn in any small part,

Looked awkward and disjointed when

Viewed from afar.  Just so.

Sorry Sterling that I used you to

Hide my nakedness behind your

Idealism and peeked out every so often

Like a performer gauging the audience

Before the play begins, and there

You were trying so hard just to be

On stage and saying your lines like

You meant every word.  And you did.

But my wanting to be out got in the way.

Sorry my dear Soul, for taking so long

To know that all my fears would

Get me was loneliness and a

Canyon wide gulf between my

Dream of love and the world of

Dreams I was living.  

Thank you, God for this time of

Learning about myself and for

Keeping in touch all the while I

Had my phone on automatic

Forwarding to the “out” file.  

I sure left a lot to do, and not do.