Hastily Spoken

Hastily Spoken

They were just words said in passing—

I’m sure they weren’t meant to harm,

But the barbs attached to them did sting,

And I wonder if I’m overly alarmed.

I see you laughing while you’re walking—

Are you aware what you said to me?

But what if you were actually mocking—

You’re motives are to unclear to see.

These thoughts of mine may be unconventional—

Determining whether our friendship is still true,

This hurt you’ve caused me is probably unintentional,

I won’t do the same to your feelings and callously misconstrue.

Perhaps talking to you will be too difficult,

You’re going your way, and I’ve got my own.

And I don’t want to hint or subtly imply an insult

To this pebble you’ve thrown, and in return cast a stone.

My feelings of pain, regret might be wrong,

Though my feelings for a while lie broken.

The strength of our friendship must stand strong,

But take care of the words, which are hastily spoken.

Greg Butz

March 3^rd, 2009

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It’s been a while since I wrote a poem. Actually, it’s only been one day – as I wrote one last night and forgot to upload it. I really didn’t know what to write, but I wanted to type up something. Also, I haven't written a poem in ABAB CDCD since I was in junior high, so it gave me an opportunity to do so. So the first thing that came to my mind was the phrase “hastily written” – which is what this poem is – but nothing was coming into my mind until I changed “written” to “spoken” – suddenly this poem came flooding. This is not written about anything that is currently going on – but rather a reflection on the times when people are hurt by things spoken without thinking.