It would be nice to start again.
To do a mulligan off the tee.
To revisit
The place where your ball ended up in the
Rough and mine in the trap
And our roads diverged when we went searching.

I blamed you, in story and song.
It was a way for a grieving heart,
Feeling much betrayed,
To make sense of his dismissal.
But if I were fair I should have
Asked quietly for a do-over;
It would have given me an out
My pride should have taken

But that was then
And this is… not

I have mellowed
And my audacious ego is not so
Outsized anymore it can’t see
The flaws in the self-cut diamond.
I think my poems still hang upon
Your living room wall and I also think
You were larger than me
In acknowledging the best thing
I ever did in my life
Was to be your friend.

It was not your choice to keep on
Walking across the fairway
And out into the road.
At the time, I applauded myself
For having principles
My early life would have compromised
On a bet.

As time went on, however,
I realized that being nobly wounded
Does not make one any more
A hero than being perfectly right.
Having been both, and swimming
In the Hubris River all the while,
I kept wondering when I’d realize
I was only getting wet.

I’m proud of myself, I have to say
I’m glad I’m the one who reached out to you
While thinking you most likely
Would never have done the same

But that’s not an indictment;
It’s an understanding.
And if I knew the impasse
Was mine to end, I also
Acknowledge you didn’t have
Accept my hand when
It reached across the years
For yours.

It’ll be interesting,
When we get around to talking,
To see where you found your ball
And to wipe the sand off mine.
Then maybe we can walk back to the tees
Together, and start the round again.

07/07/2011

Author's Note: Sometimes, if you swallow your pride and reach out, amazing things happen..

Posted on 07/07/2011
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