Table of Contents
Childhood bonds have their own dynamics, and, in ours,
Were forged face-to-face in play, solidarity against
Our elders and the easy ways that children learn to connect
Connection in adulthood is bound up so much more in
Autonomous, rather than assigned, identities, and each is a
Negotiation, and in every negotiation there are express
And undisclosed deal breakers, including some that surprise
A good-faith, but negligent blunder on the part of one
Cascades into a death spiral of emails and texts of apology,
Explanation without exculpation, bootless, abject begging
Of forgiveness met by denial of anything to forgive, the
Refusal to consider the matter anything but a temporary
Interruption of a status quo ante and impatience to close
We, and our victims, can do nothing about the anger and
Hurt we cause, and having let slip the dogs of war, can
Hardly claim surprise at the failure to receive forgiveness
Or even a live conversation, we can only speculate that
We have become the focus of accumulated anger and
Hurt even if we have no evidence to confirm or refute
Texts and email come from the head, not the heart,
And dig the the opposing fox holes deeper than any
Chance to see the other, while opposing incoming
Opens new wounds and makes peace recede
Toward the end at least one will doubt the earlier
Assessment of the other, who wonders whether
Self delusion has hidden a manifest loathsome
Nature that the other had overlooked for old
Time’s sake and reluctance to inflict the pain
At the finish, of course, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy
Come to their abrupt break without the pen of
The author to set it all to rights in the end
Conversations to set aside the past and talk
Of the future would be awkward and, at best,
Lead to a justly despised power/oppressed
Relationship that one party would never accept
Even if the other would ever desire
Polar extremes account for the outcome and
One party has to ask which is more likely
Has the other been deceiving everyone,
or has the questioner been the one hiding an
Evil heart behind a benign mask that has been stripped
Suddenly and brought forth repulsion and distaste
Baseball clichès provide the coda, for
At the End of the Day,
It is What It Is,
You Can’t Win ’em All,
and Management Has Decided to Make Some Changes
Mascot of the Day
