And this is a prose poem dedicated
to Steve's sister-in-law, Carol.
That was written 14 years after that one.
"It was a minor argument with my future sister-in-law
on the way to the wedding.
When we arrived for the ceremony, I apologized.
And the more specifically I explained where I'd been wrong,
the more intransigent she became,
leaning against the altar, refusing my meager mea culpa.
The whole incident got smaller and never went away.
She died some months later.
Now when I rehearse my explanations to the dead,
hers come first.
We are all dressed up at the wedding.
We sit across from each other, and raise our hands,
as if in surrender, or as if to play a child's game,
knowing that the winner wins and the loser, well, the loser
always wants to play again.
I am at my most reasonable, most contrite,
and still I can't stop explaining."