He Apologizes

He apologizes
For the yelling
The broken plate
The words
The silence

He apologizes for the 'again'
For having to say he did it 'again'
After he swore he would never do it 'again'

Never again
Until now
So he apologizes

He apologizes for his weakness
For his temper
For his hands
For his dormant cruelty

He stresses that he's a good man
He's a good man
Who gets upset sometimes
Who does stupid things
Who crosses the line

But he's a good man
Because he apologizes

A bad man would not apologize
A bad man would just keep doing these things
And let them sit
Gather up dust
Not recognize that they're bad
Whereas he knows they're bad
And that's why he's going to stop

He's going to stop

Without help
Without counsel
Without assistance

These are family matters
These are not things
That need exposure
To the outside world

There is more good in him than bad
And the good will battle the bad
And the good will win

He is confident of this

And he apologizes to her
For having to witness this battle
To, even, participate
In this battle

But he is sure
It will be worth it
In the end

But until then
He will fight

And lose
And strike
And fall down
And break
And break things
And reassemble
And renew
And promise
And check--

--To see if she's still with him

If she's got enough room inside herself
To hold all his apologies

And as long as she does
He's going to keep trying
And trying
And trying

Until they make it
Or they don't