Regret

Regret

By Madeleine Richardson

Crashing waves

Hidden caves

Silent house by the sea

An old man

Who never began

To see what came to be

He sits alone by the shore

And reflects on the life he lived

All the words he said before

And all that he never did

While the waves crash

He thinks of the only girl he ever loved

Where she might be

And all they could have done

He thinks of his son

And the little time they were together

His big blue eyes 

And toothless smile

That begged him to be better

When his sister crosses his mind

He knows he should have believed

When she told him everything that made her want to leave

But he couldn't find it in him to care

Which may have been why she finally hung herself in the air

Last Christmas

He didn't know

Would be his father’s last

He didn’t show up

And didn’t call

Not knowing he would be taken so fast

He rotted in jail

Taking the fall

While his friends walked away

Safe from it all

He wasted his life

At the bottom of a bottle

And ran away

To where his family could not follow

Despite all he’s done

He knows it was all for the best

And how it was all meant to be

And now he can finally rest

Down by the sea.