Bob


I hear he quit drinking,
someone said,
and in a hollow sudden shock
it all came clear --
those memories,
those years of anger
recrimination
spirals of blame,
the way you defined for me
by exposing so nakedly its opposite
the meaning of the word
responsibility
and the way you
inflicted self-doubt
as a deep, abscessing wound
that still will not quite heal.

You see,
I hadn't known.

And now I have a name
for the pain
you gave me
like a gift
hiding poison.

by Sara, copyright 1999, all rights reserved