finally showed, I stowed
all trace of ego, begged
her to take me back.
My apology
was sincere.
But then, when
I threw in the
part about my
little brothers
needing my
room, and the
reasons why,
Nikki couldn’t
say no. Even so, ORGIVENESS hasn’t come easy.
THE FIRST FEW NIGHTS
She made me sleep on the couch.
Refused to touch me. Barely
spoke in complete sentences.
I wormed my way back into
her good graces like any guy
with half a brain might—flowers.
Supermarket flowers, true,
but I half filled the house
with them. She came home
from work to find sunflowers
in the kitchen. Lilies, tulips,
carnations, and phlox on end
tables and windowsills. African
violets in the bathroom. Roses
(what else?) in the bedroom.