Make the most of your regrets. . . . To regret deeply is to live afresh.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Zephyrous regrets, need we pin you down
or sift through the dumpsters of the psyche;
dwell on the shames we'd never show the town,
scarce remember, nor assign to Nike*?

Yes, the dues for what’s done we can’t undo;
yes, aches we'd stake through the heart, with their harm
never dreamt nor meant, if only we knew.
Yes, the hurts only remorse helps disarm.

What of what we didn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t?
Too late to flagellate--stay the foray.
Who’s to say if we had, that we shouldn’t?
Some ones, some things, aren’t meant to come our way.

The stones of regrets all humans quarry:
The Gods, themselves, sort the weight of Sorry.

© Helga Ross 2007

* Greek Goddess of Victory