i made the wedding late
all 150 guests waiting 
by only realising when 
i began to dress myself at last  

that while i brought the dresses
for the bride and all the bridesmaids
          i neglected to bring mine

the day before this, as i sat in automatic
car wash (after the rehearsal)
my husband rang to say the police 
had called to inform that shortly before
i had filled my car and just driven away
stealing petrol up the road
         distracted

there are quite simply days like these
and we might as well laugh
(at least in hindsight) 
at those moments when minds
that often support us well 
         glitch

and things that others whose
thoughts are currently flowing free
might roll their eyes and mutter
         “well there they go again”

but, hey, my promise to you is this:
if your behavior is suddenly
peculiar  
	unusual 
		or odd
I will not think of you as……less

instead i will wonder what stress,
what tiredness, what thing 
you just might now carry
	that’s now producing this

		---absolutely everyone makes mistakes

heather pound 2025

Photo by Serafima Lazarenko on Unsplash