Things I Could Not Mend

from Rehearsals for Goodbye

Forgive me for
those things
I could not mend:

for dropping 
the porcelain 
basket 
with the fake 
Limoges hallmark,

for shattering 
the Waterford 
champagne flutes, 

for losing 
the broken fins 
of Baccarat fish 
that swam 
in the curio 
cabinet, 

for torquing
to death
a gold earring 
in the garbage 
disposal, 

for the 
bathroom window 
cracked 
by an errant limb 
that fell into it 
when the silk tree 
was being trimmed, 

for those 
final moments 
you watched
alone 
as our cat died
on a veterinary 
table,

For the 
college 
you didn't attend, 
the job 
you never wanted,
the life 
you would have had,
the love 
you might have found.

Mea culpa, Mea culpa
Mea maxima culpa