Apology
written by: Elisa Grant
There were words I needed but never heard,
soft syllables stitched with regret,
a balm for wounds I didn’t know had names.
Wounds that took me years to heal myself.
Instead, silence became your answer,
a weight heavier than any scolding,
pressing down on my shoulders.
You called it strength,
this refusal to look back,
but I call it ignorance,
so I carried the past for both of us.
I waited for you to see me,
to say it wasn’t my fault,
to tell me you were sorry
for the storms you unleashed
and the shelter you never gave.
The trauma you inflicted.
The start of me never feeling good enough.
The apology never came,
but I’ve learned to offer it to myself— to the child I was,
and to the adult I am.
I am enough.
Elisa Grant is the author of Pyramid-Life Cry, Sis, an interactive memoir and Poetry collection with guided exercises. She is a proud wife and stepmom who enjoys staying home with her cat and lizard and spends her time reading, writing, and fighting for those whose voices have been wrongfully silenced – including her husband, who was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
