Paper Wings

I am sorry that they didn’t say hi to you

and glanced over your guileless eyes.

You are not just the younger sister,

following too close and adorably shy.

I am sorry that they made their opinion known

on your shiny black mary janes

that you wore on your fourteenth birthday,

now in your dim closet tucked away.

I am sorry that they didn’t dance with you

and your dress sparkled for the wall.

Everyone was high on the cafeteria floor

and you didn’t know any of the songs.

I am sorry that it all sticks to you

and sinks just below your splotching skin.

But mostly I am sorry that

you didn’t introduce yourself first,

or buckle the straps of your shoes,

or twirl alone to the unknown words

in a haze of midnight blue.

When will you stop expecting apologies

that will never be given?

-A.J