By the time I was even able
to consider making an amend,
he was long buried, my insults
and transgressions with him.
How could those wrongs ever
be addressed, a letter read
over a cold tombstone seemed
the best alternative.
The brilliance of the option
then suggested was lost on me
when heard. But I had asked
this one for help for a reason.
They had already walked this path
and helped others like me.
Not only did their idea make
sense, they had not been wrong yet.
So, into their eyes I spoke of the
past about which I had such regret.
In those eyes of the living, I was able
to gaze into The Eyes Of The Dead.
Not to etched granite in green lea did I
make this amend, but to a living, breathing
person. Someone who could feel the harm,
share the hurt I had inflicted before.
I could say what needed to be said, knowing
it fell not on deaf ears. Into those eyes
I looked, seeing neither the forgiveness nor the
understanding which were not theirs to give.
In these mirrors to my soul, I saw instead the peace
which comes from a task well done, I saw instead the
freedom which comes from an amend well made, I saw
instead what it means to fearlessly work the steps.
John R. Wallace
08/23/2024
Dedicated to Barbara C. – She of the Brilliant Idea
