You never thought your cousin would reply,
and yet you sent resentment, overwrought
and angry, heels dug in, about to cry.
You never thought…

You knew you should suppress the impulse, fraught
with indignation, shrapnel in your eye,
flailing blind, forgetting that you taught

us all to true our aim before we ply
our words. You let yourself by rage be caught,
and now your ire has to multiply.
You never thought.