I'm Sorry

two words my father never
spoke to me
two little words
could make all the difference

I thought of writing
to tell you so
I thought
of writing...

Perhaps, I thought,
I ought to tell you
as a father ought
perhaps, teach a daughter

Perhaps you do not know
the harbored potential of those
two little words
perhaps you do not know how I've longed
to hear them
how I long to justify
my un-sought-after
perhaps even unwarranted
forgiveness...

Perhaps
it's true
you are too proud

Perhaps somewhere
in that gray space
of slippery memory
you imagine that you have
uttered those words
to me...

or, perhaps
you feel no such utterance
required?

Perhaps it is only your own loss
you are sorry for

or perhaps,
you are not sorry
at all...