Sometimes, there’s no easy way to say ‘I’m sorry for what I said’
Having accidentally caused offence to a lifelong friend, poet and artist Frieda Hughes feels compelled to write a note of apology, but can’t find the words. Will a painting do, instead?
The Apology Poem
For two days now I have been constructing a letter of apology
That I cannot get right; an offended phone call
From a friend I’d felt as close to as family described
Her nine-month-old anger to which she now gave birth.
It was for something I’d said that had festered since then.
I apologised once, and now I am apologising again
For the offence that she has taken where none was meant.
I should not have asked the mother of the groom
About timings for the end of the wedding day.
Our friendship of a lifetime could not excuse
My need to organise both ends of my journey,
Because, although I live so many miles away,
There was no pre-booked cab to a nearby hotel
For late-night drinks with disassembling guests before bed,
Only a long drive home through strange counties past midnight
For husky-care and fifteen owls.
I’d simply been organising my imaginary crampons
To climb metaphorical mountains in order to be there and celebrate.
I paint ‘Offence Taken Where None Was Meant’ and remember
What I’d not understood on the day.