I do not wait
For an apology
To unfurl from his lips
He is not sorry
For the bile words
That he vomits upon me  

Again    again     and again
I ask him not to disrespect
Black women with words
That slice like the
Honeybee’s barbed blades    stinger ripping the skin  

What a bittersweet oxymoron
Friendship once built upon thick, golden, smooth honey
Now destroyed by the burning pain of his venom  

I remove the stinger   
Bottle the honey