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Noted Nest

An Apology

By Zoya Ghoshal


“I think

You deserve an apology

For the way

I’ve stolen things

That were always meant

To be yours

That were always meant

To make you happy


Our lives 

Have always irrevocably 

Been intertwined

I couldn’t help but notice

That the things you had

Were always the things

I wanted

The things

I thought I needed


I never was good at hiding

These dark emotions of mine

The thoughts 

Of taking away

Everything that was meant

To be solely yours

For myself

The thoughts

Of leaving you miserable 

Just because 

You had the things 

I could never have


Despite you realising 

I felt this way for you

There was never a time

When you

Treated me less than yourself

Despite you

Having every right to

Even when I slowly

Stole away 

What was yours

You always smiled at me

The same way you did

 When you first met me

The same way you did

When you knew nothing about me


You deserve an apology

For the way I treated you

And I deserve 

Not a thing in this world.”


“I think 

You deserve an apology

For the way

I’ve disappointed you

For the way

I’ve broken your trust

Time and time again


You see,

It’s never been intentional

But somehow, 

It’s always something

I manage to do


You have always confided in me

About the most important aspects

Of your life

It befuddled me

How you could always be so strong

Despite the things

You grew up experiencing

Things no human

Should ever have to go through

In their lives


Your pain 

Should’ve given you a reason

To hate the world

But despite that

You never did


I guess I was brought into your life

As another way 

To give you more pain

As another test 

From the one above

To make sure 

You really were as strong

As you made yourself out to be


I have never once

Been someone you could rely on

And despite that

You made me feel

Bigger than I ever was

You made me feel responsible for things

No one would’ve ever before


Unfortunately

You were wrong to do that

And no matter how many times

I managed to let you down

You came back with an,

‘It’s okay’

Trusting me with things

You shouldn’t trust me with 

All over again


You deserve an apology

For all the suffering

This world

Has offered you

And I deserve

To experience it instead.”


“I think

You deserve an apology

For the way

I couldn’t uphold 

My promise to protect you

For the rest of my life

For the way

I became an absence 

That you could never truly

Erase 


You see,

I was someone

No one ever expected 

To be responsible 

For anything 


My own family 

Treated me 

Like I was someone

Who would never 

Be able to hold their own

Treated me 

Like I would cruise through life

Without ever knowing 

What it was like

To truly be important 

To someone

And I lived the way

I was always expected to

Until you came along


The very first day

I held your small hands in mine

I knew that my whole life

Was nothing but a long wait

For you


I swore on my life

That I would shield you

From anything or anyone

That would make you sad

That I would finally prove 

To anyone that ever doubted me

That I was someone

Who could truly be 

The center of someone’s world


Unfortunately

The things that people

Ingrained into my head

Caught up to me


I started to doubt myself

Started to doubt

Whether I was truly worthy

Of being responsible 

For someone’s whole life

The way I was for yours


I did the one thing 

I should’ve never done

I left you

To deal with this cruel world

By yourself

I left you

Alone

I guess the things 

That people always said to me

Were true all along

I never was able to prove them wrong,

Was I?


You grew up just fine

Even without me

You learned things

I never had the chance

To teach you

You stood up on your own

Two feet

Taking everything on in a way

I never could


While I continued to wither away

Being the same as I always was

Regretting the same things

I always did

Wishing I had chosen

To stay with you instead


You deserve an apology

For having to grow up

In a way you never should have

And I deserve

To fade away from existence 

As the same person I always was

A failure.”


“I think

You deserve an apology

For the way

I took your love

For granted


When we met 

It felt like

The only one in my world

Was you

When I saw you for the first time

It felt like

All the noise

Faded away

My mind blurred

My vision was suddenly 

Clearer than it had ever been

The only thing that I could focus on

Was you


My love for you

Was strong 

Crushing 

Devastating

It drove me insane 

To the point where 

It felt like 

If you weren’t mine

I wouldn’t be able to go on

With the rest of my life


As the years went by

And as your love for me

Grew stronger

With every passing day

I felt my mind 

Start to clear up

In a way

It never was with you

It felt like my vision

Suddenly started to

Focus on everything around you

But you


You tried everything 

Everything possible 

To salvage 

What we had left

But somehow 

My feelings had 

Fizzled out

Leaving only you

Pining

Pleading 

Begging

For my attention

For anything 

I could give to you


At first 

It gave me a sense of power

To see you

In the same position

I once was in

It sometimes even brought forth

A sense of morbid

Disgust 

To see you grovelling

It felt like 

The person you once were

Was nowhere to be found

You were a shell of who

You used to be

And somehow 

I was never able to realise

That the fault

Was all mine 


I ended up making

The worst mistake of my life

I sought what I once had with you

With someone else

It somehow 

Never occurred to me

That I never told you

For fear of losing you

For fear

Of losing the importance

You always gave me

For fear 

Of losing the love

I would never deserve 

From anyone else


The day you found out

The day I gave you more pain

Than I had ever given you before

The day I saw you look at me

Like 

You didn’t even recognise me anymore

I felt my heart hurt

My body seize 

With a cold so horrific 

I could feel it coursing through 

My veins 


My eyes burned 

With tears I hadn’t shed 

In a long, long time

Tears 

That you didn’t bother

To stop anymore

The day I realised 

I still loved you

Was the day you left me

Was the day 

You finally decided 

That I wasn’t worth loving any longer

That what we had 

Was impossible to save 


You deserve an apology

For the way 

I never gave you everything

I always promised you

I’d give

For the way

I wasted all

That you had given me

And I deserve 

To never feel the things 

I had felt with you

Ever again.”


“I think 

You deserve an apology

For the way

I broke pieces of you

You never deserved 

To have broken


You were someone

Who had never felt 

The absence of love 

In your life

You had never once felt

What it was like

To struggle

To desperately want

For something 

And to still not get it


I, on the other hand,

Was someone

The world had never 

Been kind to

Everything I had in my life

Was grabbed

Was clawed

Was taken

I had to work so hard

To get most things

Because even the things

I ought to deserve

Were always so difficult

To get my hands on


And then came you

For the first time

In my life

I didn’t have to struggle

Getting you 

Was one of the easiest things

I had ever done

Masking my emotions 

And playing with yours

Like I would a puppet’s 

Felt like something

That gave me joy


Until it didn’t 

Until every time I saw you

It felt like 

My heart was caught

In my throat

It felt like

Everything I had ever done

So far in my life

Was wrong

It felt like

The biggest crime 

I had ever committed

Was taking your heart

And treating it 

Like something

That wasn’t more valuable 

Than I could ever be


You deserve an apology

For the way I left you scarred

In a way

The world never did to me

And I deserve

To always feel the way I did

When I lost you.”


By Zoya Ghoshal



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