She whispered to me, “Owen –
I would like to be your girl.
But you must take me everywhere.
I want to see the world.”

So mesmerized, I took her hand,
Across the world we went:
And all I was, and all I had
Most certainly was spent

To give her all of anything
I thought she might desire –
But still, she whispered to me,
“Let’s go higher, Owen. Higher.”

But higher I could never go
For I was just a guy
Without the soaring resources
It takes to reach the sky

One day, she whispered to me,
“You and I know this is done.
It’s time for me to go; this part
Of our race has been run.”

I thought it wrong and hated her
And hated richer men:
And it was years and years before
I saw her face again

By now, I was not poor; but she
Had fallen from the skies –
Her beauty long deserted her
As had so many guys

She told me she was grateful for
Our time, our history;
That she’d believed she never
Would be smart enough for me

She knew that I was angry
For she never had explained;
She hoped I had forgiven her
And that I had maintained

Some fondness in my thoughts for her
As silly as she was.
And I stood there, ashamed, and there
Was quite an awkward pause —

Before I whispered, “Friend, I loved you
Then, and I confess,
That I was angry. Now I’m not
And wish you happiness.

You need it, you deserve it, and
It’s still out there for you.
And I’d be grateful, also, if
You could forgive me, too.”

If you do not believe that real
Forgiveness can be had;
That there is no forgetting
Nothing cancels out the bad —

I cannot say for you,
But I can hereby say for me:
Forgiveness can fix many things
Even
Bad
History

= = = = = Prompted Post = = = = =

Forgive and Forget?