“What were you thinking?” he said.

And I sprang a memory leak.

All those times he accused me in public.

“Why are you wearing that?”

“That’s not how to paint a wall.”

“What were you thinking?” he said.

And I told him.

A bench there.

A shoe shelf.

A place for coats.

“What were you thinking?” he said.

Again.

In front of the others.

Three times is not a question.

“What were you thinking?”

Unlocked the door between us

that has kept the peace

all these years since.

An open door for memories

to rush in.

That old familiar cringe.

“What were you thinking?”

woke me angry at 2:36 a.m.

But I am not in then,

I am in now.

And in this now,

I speak up loud today.

I say I won’t.

I say you can’t.

I say no.

No.