Shame

I couldn’t forgive Aurelia
there were reasons
she died years ago        how long
.       do I hold onto the guilt of never

calling her back        I talked Maria
into going on a diet with me
then told her she was doing it wrong

I left a lame apology

as a teenager
I shoplifted things I didn’t want

when an hispanic woman
tried to befriend me
I listened to the neighbors
.                   bad mouth her

.                   and turned my back

Sarah told me
she had MS        I never acknowledged
her
.                   and now she’s moved away
I had an affair
with Joe Delaney        I didn’t care
about his wife and kids
I slapped three people in public
twice I was slapped back

***

Bonnie Billet wrote until her late thirties and was published in several journals including POETRY. She started writing again after retirement and has been published in several journals including Entropy, Oxidant / Engine, Dunes Review, So To Speak, Heavy Feather, and Rhino.