I'm sorry, I forgot...

So many years in the blink of an eye; what happened?

We said goodbye, noncommittal promises so easily begot,

I remembered it all so much later, after the bitter end

that we’d said we'd get that date for coffee; I’m sorry that I forgot.

Faint smudges of cherry lipstick on your collar, a sad truth

of how I wanted to reach out and make it disappear ,blot

out the shine of your smile, so perfect in dimly lit corridors of youth;

so much that I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t.  I’m sorry I forgot.

Your delicate hand; your face, somehow not quite the same.  I imagine in my mind

watching you, waiting for that wistful smile, eyes closed but not asleep.  Just a spot

of regret as cold winter wind mourned outside; incomparable to the mourning inside.

Despair flooded my heart and I promised to always remember; I’m sorry but I forgot.

Fly forward, years with memories taking shape on kites of thoughts and impressions.

Faded imprints of your face is all that is left, a vivid photograph now left to rot,

it’s all gone by so fast, pain so constant, now beyond numb.  Cursed, forgotten sins,

I swore I'd always remember this day, a morbid anniversary.  I’m sorry that I forgot.

I forgot the pain, you…  For just a moment I allowed rays of bright sunshine in,

praying it would dispel your spirit, a ghost I still see in the arms of memory.

All of a sudden there was a life without you, a life where I wasn’t haunted.  I began

to see what it was like without you.  I forgot you, and eternally I am sorry.

© 2015 p.hill