Sweet Sorrow by Jamie Paradis ’20
Oops! My bad! Pardon me!
Sometimes I count, using all
Of my fingers, toes,
Exactly how many ways there are
To apologize.
I’m Sorry rolls off the tongue with its
Rounded vowels and-
Saying sorry is casual, cool, calm, cleansing
And it lets others know that we are good, we
Recognize mistakes.
It reeks of arrogance almost as much
As telling your junior your current income.
Did Wordsworth, Shakespeare,
Twain, Woolf, Hemingway,
Any of the greats, those who
Craved the strength of the tongue,
Apologize for loving someone?
Or saying no?
Or not knowing the answer?
Or imperfections?
Saying sorry shouldn’t sound so sweet.
The worst, though, is when you say
It again,
Twice,
The apologies piling up,
Suffocating in ingenuous guilt.