After leaving I said,

“I know how I was hurt. But tell me how you were affected.

I’d really like to know your side.”

But an answer did not come, not for me.

 

“I’ll talk to your counselor or your new pastor.”

But as In so many cases before,

I myself wasn’t spoken to.

 

Today I’m learning what this person had experienced.

At least some. I hear it through my friends.

And I feel smitten, wondering how to defend myself

against people’s thoughts and feelings.

 

I wish I had known the wrong I was doing:

too much time at the shop.

I wish it had been impressed on me

so I could understand.

Firm boundaries placed to hold me accountable.

I badly needed that.

 

If I wronged you,

did it warrant damaging me with words and actions as you did?

Why couldn’t you have talked to me,

as one human being speaking to another?

 

marja