Unforgiven

I was young But old enough to know better We were rounded up Determined to weed out the culprit I sat quietly and poker faced Holding my breath and dying inside I wanted this inquisition To be over but it dragged on forever If I could hold on long enough It would end at a standstill And eventually be forgotten I could never imagine A scenario where someone Might be wrongly punished After all there was no evidence But before I knew it It had happened in front of my eyes Accused and brutally spanked in an instant Though blatantly innocent In shock and utter disbelief Convinced my belated admission of guilt Would now be pointless Too young to truly appreciate The true value of Clearing a person’s reputation I ran up to my room and Gasped for my first breath of stupor I got away that moment But have been paying ever since I never admitted or asked for forgiveness Seemed pointless through the years Decades later My brother Would have said It wasn’t important It’s long forgotten I know this because in some wimpy blurry recollection I vaguely remember admitting it to him some fifty years later Knowing full well it was too little too late And his response was exactly as expected Confirming my high opinion of his virtuous generosity But fifty years later My pointless admission seemed surreal As though to amplify rather than to lighten that old regret I didn’t deserve or want to ever forget My very first true act of cowardice AP: 1st place 2020 Posted on April 22, 2018