Sister, Incarcerated
by Margaret Ohrn
If only I could just recall
the words I gave the judge that day.
I think I’m sorry for it all.
You roamed the streets that endless fall
and lost your keys, your child, your way.
But how, I just cannot recall.
Cell walls—a desperate ploy to stall,
to keep you safe and death at bay,
I think. I’m sorry for it all.
Guards searched my body, scared and small
but yours, in orange, would waste away.
If only I could not recall.
I saw you at dad’s funeral
in heels and pearls. No words to say.
I feel so sorry for it all.
I wish there’d been a crystal ball
to show the meanings of betray.
If only I could just recall.
I think I’m sorry for it all.
the words I gave the judge that day.
I think I’m sorry for it all.
You roamed the streets that endless fall
and lost your keys, your child, your way.
But how, I just cannot recall.
Cell walls—a desperate ploy to stall,
to keep you safe and death at bay,
I think. I’m sorry for it all.
Guards searched my body, scared and small
but yours, in orange, would waste away.
If only I could not recall.
I saw you at dad’s funeral
in heels and pearls. No words to say.
I feel so sorry for it all.
I wish there’d been a crystal ball
to show the meanings of betray.
If only I could just recall.
I think I’m sorry for it all.
Margaret Ohrn's poems have been published in South Florida Poetry Journal, The Anthology of New England Writers, Blackberry Picking, Lyrical Voices from Vermont, as well as in the upcoming issue of The Midwest Quarterly (summer 2021). She lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts.