I Stopped Waiting for Apologies

I Stopped Waiting for Apologies

There was a time I rehearsed forgiveness,

imagined conversations that never arrived,

believed accountability would eventually surface,

if I waited long enough.

Time corrected that expectation,

showed me how easily people move on,

how rarely harm feels urgent

to the one who caused it.

Some apologies never come,

not because they aren’t deserved,

it‘s because reflection requires discomfort,

and avoidance is easier.

I stopped checking for growth in others,

stopped measuring silence for remorse,

and accepted that closure

is not something you can request.

Letting go of that hope was clarifying,

not liberating, not bitter,

just honest about how things work,

then who people choose to be.

I carry the truth now instead,

lighter than expectation,

heavier than ignorance,

and finally mine to manage.