Saying, 'Thank you.' Saying, 'Sorry'.

Writing - whether it's a poem, a short story, a letter or a diary entry - allows the writer travel emotionally and imaginatively far away, both in space and through time. You can literally re-write the past: to give yourself the winning line in an argument you lost; or you can go back in time to say, 'Thank you' or "Sorry' to someone whose kindness, generosity or love you took for granted. Click on the link below and read Those Winter Sundays, a profoundly moving poem by the African-American writer, Robert Hayden.

www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46461/those-winter-sundays

As you'll have seen, the house Robert grew up in was not a happy home - it seems to have been both physically and emotionally cold - and young Robert took for granted the small, selfless acts his father performed for his family. This poem was his way of acknowledging and thanking his father for what he did (something he admits he failed to do when his father was alive) and also, by implication, all the other people who perform 'love's austere and lonely offices' - all those people for whom we've been clapping on Thursday evenings.

Getting started

Is there any situation that if you could, you'd like to go back and change? Is there anyone you'd like to thank, some you'd like to say sorry to, or perhaps say a belated 'I told you so'?

Try writing - it could be a correction, an apology, or perhaps you want to ask someone to apologise to you.

You don't have to write a poem: it could be a letter, a re-written diary entry, a message in a bottle, an advertisement , or something not to be written - something you could only whisper, or something you want to shout out loud for everyone to hear.

Taking it a little further

Some of the greatest pieces of dialogue writing, or meditations about asking for forgiveness or being forgiven, are to be found in the great Hebrew anthology The Psalms. Look at Psalms 51 and 32, where King David is seeking and finding forgiveness for his sins. One of my favourite Psalms is Psalm 121. Perhaps you could write a piece about your favourite Psalm - explaining why it is your favourite, and maybe recounting a particular situation in which it has brought you comfort, or a moment of understanding or enlightenment. If you would like to share your Psalm story on these webpages, please email me at mick@mickgowar.net..