It Wasn't My Fault

Like a good worker I took up the plates,
Only to be startled by a voice.
"______." She said my name.
It was Ms. _____,
My favorite english teacher whom
I've never even had.
She asked if I still talked to ______.
With a heaving sigh of emotion,
I replied that I didn't.
As if this were a scene in a movie she said
"I'm worried about her, she hasn't been in... In months."
There was a silence and I shook,
Hoping the plates would somehow shatter
Into my arms and create red noise.
Suddenly, I couldn't control my throat,
I spoke softly as I had the whole day.
"I'm so... Sorry... That's my fault.. I'm sorry."
And then,
I felt like an overfilled tub--sloshing over
With tears but I held them back.
--And let some of the guilt go.