A Jackass Offers an Apology

I offer my sincerest apologies to my fellow motorists

because, see, I turned left in front of oncoming traffic—

in a snowstorm no less—

thinking I had a green left-turn arrow when, in fact, 

I had only a standard green light and 

a head full of worries—a wife & child with the flu, 

a pay cut looming, a to-do list 

too long to get done.

But there is no excuse for almost smashing up

a half-dozen cars in four inches of grimy 

rush hour slush like my toddler would do

with his trucks in the basement carpet pile,

and I am sorry for being that driver, 

the guy I would normally scream at 

with the unholy fervor of the frustrated & angry 

whose perceived wrongs erupt and 

splash vitriol & spittle across 

the inside of so many windshields.

I accept my deserved curses, 

though I am sorrier yet for yelling at 

others those hundreds of times before

because, oh, how we hope to simplify our world 

by yelling, but, oh, how miserably,

how sadly, we fail and fail and fail

despite the continued flying of our birds, 

those egocentric flags—

angry exclamation points jabbing out the windows

where scared, tentative question marks would be

more accurate,

more honest.