Lucky: response to class prompt with guest lecturer

Intention does not always equate to reception 

and sometimes you have to take responsibility for the fact that 

although you did not mean to 

you did 

and the onus is on you to change, 

not on them to stop being hurt

because so much of this goes 

unapologised for and although 

it may dirty your armour 

you must take a knee and beg for forgiveness 

because finally your privilege has caught up to you 

and you are so lucky that you weren't the one 

who felt violated 

by a wrong turn of the head,

you are so lucky 

that you just felt awkward 

and an apology caught in your throat

before you said nothing and forgot it even happened and 

you are so lucky 

that you didn't feel ashamed

and sick and remember the time 

that guy grabbed your arse 

or followed you in his low-slung commodore

or forced his hand up your shirt and under your favourite bra 

or when your friend came home crying and collapsed on your floor 

and you held her together for days 

and she is still holding herself together to this day 

but she does not have the privilege of forgetting

so no, 

I do not feel sorry for you

That your luck has run out just this one time,

A book deal is nothing, 

a job is nothing, 

a reputation is nothing

compared to the lives we have lost 

compared to the shatterings, 

the tearings, the mending we have endured

so please, 

just tell me you are sorry.