Some time afterwards,
the niggling suspicion knocks,
flounces its way in,
sets its baggage down,
and I start to conclude
I have been tone deaf

Certainly not for the first time,
though I had hoped these incidents
had mostly tapered off,
as has my former swift self castigation

I am a little sorry, yes,
but also curious —
what internal constructs
led to the little gaffe, which rolled out
with such ease and comfort?
Where could my mind be, next time,
to reduce the risk of doing this again?

Ah, let me be included
in the grand forgiveness
that Life gives each of us
as we come home,
where we serenely know
we never fail each other
when in the consciousness of being one.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 14, 2017