"I guess you're still having feelings"
as if
they were a supposition
plausibly Deniable
an allegation worth
little more than myth
insubstantial
immaterial
convenient like ghosts
they can threaten you
without being too real
or was it
"It sounds like you're still having feelings"
as if
they were a rumor
certainly UnReliable
a secondhand story
overheard over drinks
understood under no circumstances
with all the qualities of the best tavern tales
hyperbolized
hilarious
hysterical
or maybe it was
"I'm sorry you're still having feelings"
as if
you could even be
partially Responsible
an allegation worth
little more than myth
the realization of which
empathic, unlikely
would smash the glass of your fragile, flowering ego
like your voice battering my mother's
your apologies shatterng my faith in others
I heard the essence of your words
but they were insubstantial
immaterial
convenient like ghosts
they haunted my voicemail
only for as long as I believed in them
I wish they had been written on paper
so I could have set them on fire
have finally been warmed by something
other than the anger-flushed comforter
thrown over the twinging bedspring anxiety
that fed me in our cold, love-starved home
how can I try to explain
I can't because
it's not time to make a change
it never was
Anyway, Harry's here,
and Cat's in the cradle,
and we're late for tea with the tillerman
so
-x2A