Sorry

I am sorry I was late.

I am sorry I did not wash the dishes.

I am sorry I did not prepare the report for the meeting.

 

Sorry I am early.

Sorry I ate the last pomegranate

Sorry for not staying in touch.

 

Sorry I let the dog out.

 

Sorry for the letter I sent

Or the email

Or the communication that was taken one way and meant another

 

Sorry for not washing my hands

For not using the hand gel

For attending the party.

 

Sorry for forgetting your birthday

and

Sorry for not sending a card

 

Sorry for the delay in my answering the phone

And, not getting back to you,

You see, I’ve been busy.

 

Sorry for the mistakes I have made

And will make.

 

Sorry for the pollution created

By my car

By my meat consumption

and my use of technology

 

Sorry for not listening

For not hearing

For not paying attention.

 

Sorry for missing you off the list

For allowing my dog to chew the invoice,

The receipt.

The sock.

 

Your shoes are destroyed

As is my pullover

Sorry, it was, the pup.

 

Sorry I have changed my mind

From planning for A, then B then C

And, apologies for my capriciousness.

 

Sorry I cannot attend the meeting

Or the appointment

I can’t make the deadline

Or the target.

 

Sorry I led you to believe one thing

When I intended another.

 

Sorry what I taught you is not right,

Indeed is the opposite of the truth.

 

Sorry I have prescribed you the penicillin when you are allergic.

Sorry I missed the critical measurement on your blood results.

Sorry for referring you to the cancer specialist too late.

 

Sorry for sending you to hospital, when home was best.

Sorry for not sending you to hospital, when you should have gone-in.

Sorry for the time the ambulance takes to take or bring you back.

 

Sorry for the discomfort

The awkwardness of my expression

The momentary lapse in decorum.

 

Sorry, I thought you were someone else.

 

Sorry, wrong address.

Wrong, number.

 

Sorry I didn’t catch you when you were in, I’ll call again later.

 

Sorry for thinking you were this when you are that.

 

Sorry for the mis-gender, mis-identity, mis-translation.

 

Sorry for being me and not the person you had expected.

 

Sorry for my shape, my form.

 

Sorry, I should have remembered, I shouldn’t have forgotten.

 

Sorry I didn’t take more photos

Or video film

Of my mum or dad

Or children when they were young.

 

Sorry I didn’t savour the moment,

Appreciate what I had.

Sorry for the length of these sorrows.

 

Sorry for the damage to your book,

To the broken spine,

The dog-ear,

the coffee stain.

 

Sorry for my heavy-handedness

The tightness of the blood pressure cuff

The scratch of the needle.

 

Sorry for the preamble.

 

Sorry for bumping your car,

Sorry for not indicating,

For the wrong flavour or ingredient.

 

Sorry, I don’t have any money on me at the moment.

Sorry, I’m in a hurry, a rush, can’t stop.

 

Sorry, sorry, sorry.

 

I apologise and wish things were different,

Had been different,

Had been otherwise.

 

But.

That is the way they are.

That is it.

That is the reality.

There is no other, no alternative, no switch.

 

There is no point in my offering you more apologies.

What is done is done.

The end is the end.

And no go o’er.