forget me nots

if i could summon the strength
i would ask you to forget

about that time at the lake
when we got lost on a country

lane and i refused to check
the map or ask for directions

pretending (as always) to know
better than you and too damn

stubborn to stop the car for even
one single minute while you sat

in the next seat fuming mad
(no doubt) and gave me a dose

of well-deserved silent treatment
lasting only long enough until

a wall of forget-me-nots came
into view round the next bend

then from the corner of my eye
spied a faint smile and shoulders

slump slightly while you relaxed
as if all those tiny blue flowers

sensed your mood and washed
you clean while i sat too dumb

to mutter even a single word —
maybe those forget-me-nots

offered you better comfort than
any fool thing i could have said.