Yes, Bill,
rueful ruminations
yet very sprightly
with turns and redirection making me easily imagine it being read
to an audience effectively
with them being variously stimulated.
Of course one feels alerted for some anecdote or example -
which then one regrets not meeting.
Strangely entertaining.
Max
On May 3, 2016, at 17:34, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Regretters pine
> for an alternative,
> better past.
> A past before
> decisions they made
> delivered repercussions.
>
> Regretters beat themselves up.
>
> should have listened
> should have run with gut instinct
> should never have done it
> should never have considered doing it.
> should have laughed at the suggestion
> should have thought about the consequences
>
> It is to be regretted ...
> Regretfully ...
> Sorry about that.
>
> Regret is self-sorry.
> If only ...
>
> Had they not met their future partner,
> had they not followed up initial attraction
> before partner let them down,
> before they let partner down,
> before they committed so much,
> where might they now be?
> Who can say?
>
> Regretters can.
> They'd be, they think,
> in a vastly preferable place.
>
> But what might be the opposite of feeling regretful?
> A sense of blustering sureness?
> Or perfectly sanguine acceptance?
> Perhaps it's only human to consider your actions
> or not consider them and reconsider after the event.
>
> I'm beginning to regret
> sounding off so confidently.
> This poem was going to slice through ditherers,
> lay waste paddocks of might-have-beeners.
> Everyone faces choices.
> Kierkegaard claims you either do it or don't do it,
> whatever the decision, you'll regret both.
> Equally you might celebrate
> taking either path.
>
> bw
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