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What means this word?

by Allan Haslinds

Whatisthisword regret?
Does it mean 'I wish this had not happened'?
Can I look back a decade at a love lost
and regret my cruelty of the heart,
without meaning that I want to undo
my life since?

Years sweep the anger away,
revealing my share of the failures
that I could not see then.
I despise not having been a better man, but
cannot want my actions undone
if they led me to now.

05/20/2008

Author's Note: There might be another stanza in there somewhere.

Posted on 05/20/2008
Copyright © 2024 Allan Haslinds

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Maryellen Lebeda-Parra on 05/22/08 at 07:17 PM

OH MY! I was amazed to see that little green arrow next to YOUR name! I relate a lot to this ...

Posted by Lauren Singer on 05/23/08 at 06:12 PM

this is wonderful. i think the next stanza will grow with time, as will you.

Posted by Sandy M. Humphrey on 05/23/08 at 07:25 PM

What strikes me most is the clarity and the honesty...though one may regret an action of the past we may not have any doubts about where the action led us...very well done. smh

Posted by George Hoerner on 05/27/08 at 03:35 PM

Very nicely done Allan. And yes here we are in the now. So, must we play the Greek god with eyes both in front and back? We do it only if it will help us start each day anew and make of ourselves what we can be. Kind!

Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 05/28/08 at 04:28 PM

Adds an interesting perspective to 'the' word. I especially like how you close off with these lines: I despise not having been a better man, but cannot want my actions undone if they led me to now. Well done.

Posted by Amy Wustrin on 09/28/09 at 01:15 PM

The pause/break between stanzas is like it's own stanza. I heard volumes in the silence.

Posted by Kristine Briese on 10/17/10 at 12:44 AM

This is wonderful; it speaks volumes.

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