ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES
Mr. Chernick,
you had the best selection of penny candies
and never stinted on the syrup in the two-cent sodas.
You always let us browse through the comics
and stay warm on winter nights
when we came in for hot chocolates
after our snow fights.
Did we ever say "Thanks"?
Accept my apologies, Mr. Chernick,
for our childhood pranks.
Calling one morning on the phone ...
"This is your friendly Electric Company.
Please see if the street lights are still on."
We watched from the corner
as you came out of your just swept shop,
dutiful new citizen of the USA
looking right and left
then assuring the deadpan phone
that all was okay.
We guffawed our way
through another summer day.
Accept my apologies, Mr. Chernick,
for not knowing of your plight
or the doorknock in the night.
Americans love the easy smile
and yours was hard to come by.
Now I understand why.
I awoke with you on my mind today
and after all these years
just need to say,
we really didn't mean to be unkind.
Please accept my apologies, Mr. Chernick.
(From: Out Of Love And Other Poems, by Kitty Madeson (1993) Stone Soup Poets, Boston.)
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