For Granted
I thought you first would have given up on me
when I told you repeated grade school fibs.
…But you didn’t.
I thought you would have exhausted your patience
when teaching me how to play Mozart on piano.
…But you didn’t.
I thought you surely wouldn’t accept my apology
when I totally forgot your sixteenth birthday.
…But you did.
I thought you would be jealous
when I flirted with your college roommate.
…But you weren’t.
I thought you certainly wouldn’t understand
when I had no money for yet another Christmas.
…But you did.
I thought I loved you all of my life
when I never attempted to show or say it.
…But I wanted to.
I thought you would completely forgive me
when I failed to visit you following surgery.
…But you couldn’t.
I knew I would live to regret
the things I could have done but didn’t.
…I have…but you didn’t.
by Joseph Tornatore
1982
published in 1984 American Collegiate Poets Anthology
Labels: poetry
posted by Joe Tornatore | 9:08 AM
4 Comments:
i love all the details in this and, especially, the ending.
Jr,
thanks. Years ago, I sent this poem to author and educator Leo Buscaglia hoping he would use it in his next book. He kindly wrote me back but he took nothing For Granted.
It sounds like something written to a sibling maybe? I really liked it, it makes you remember all of the things you would rather not admit.
bipolarprincess,
I have had a goddess vist my blog but never a princess. Glad you liked my poem.
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