Reproach

‘You should be ashamed of yourself’
I was said
For the millionth time by the millionth person
All of them speaking like the teacher
Of the kindergarten where words
Not yet had started to mean anything
For their listeners.

I never thought I would be unsettled
By the same wispy reproach
Until you whispered those words
In my ears
After we bathed
Our first shower in the rain
That was never to come again
The aroma of bedewed soil was in the air
When you lips touched my ear
To utter the reproach…