Timothy Green

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How to Apologize Like You Really Mean It

—actual NPR headline, later edited

It helps, of course,
to really mean it.
But if you merely

need to seem it,
then keep in mind
that less is more.

Leave all your buts
tucked in their drawer.
Be real. Don’t primp

and puff and preen it.
An apology
is like a door

once closed.
There’s nothing
in between it.

It helps, of course,
to really mean it.

Timothy Green is editor of Rattle and author of American Fractal (Red Hen Press).