To the woman who remarked loudly to her friends
When she saw me walking against the red last week,
Well, at least some of us know our colors -
I forgive you for needing so badly to feel good
That rather than choosing a kinder response
You decided to trumpet my small transgression
So you could publicly place yourself above me
And enjoy a few precious moments of superiority.
Though it was only a small meanness you offered,
It lingered with me for the rest of the afternoon.
But I know that emptiness inside, that fear, oh yes.
It skulks too in the dimmer reaches of my own soul.
So, sister of my smaller self, I wish you only peace,
Only happiness, and someday soon an awakening
To a life of greater compassion -
And I thank you, too, for offering hearty fuel
For my own rekindling.
I love that your second line could be absolutely anything a person does that in some way does not conform to the standard.
I think you are channeling Sylvia Plath through this piece. Her voice rises through your lines.