Apology
When I heard you wrote the most exquisite love poems
I thought I would give one a try.
I confess it meant almost nothing to me.
I hardly even understood it.
And the thought of sharing it with my wife
seemed anything but romantic,
almost risky, like she might look up
and wonder what I was trying to tell her,
that I was perhaps attempting to confess something
I’d held from her all these years.
In the end I picked one
that I knew would give both of us a good chuckle.
My wife would tell you, in her most delicate way,
we were laughing with you, not at you.
Forgive her, I beg of you.
I know that’s not how you meant it.
Dave Nielsen is the author of Unfinished Figures. His poems have appeared in Poetry East, The Southern Review, Folio, Southern Poetry Review, The 2River View, and other magazines.
Beaver Magazine 