Regret

I did not want the flower

That I picked

It just seemed beautiful

At the time

I needed the colour in my life

But not the bloom

Someone else I’m sure

Needed it much more than me

 

But I plucked it

I held it

And it was beautiful

Until the dream faded

And the petals fell

Leaving me with

Nothing in my grasp

Except an empty smile

That still belonged to me

 

I should have known

Just to look at it

Leave it

Where it had sprung

But the temptation

Grew too much

I had to take it home

 

For just one moment

It made me smile

For just one moment

It made me feel alive

And now it is dead

And so am I

 

The rain came

And washed it’s beauty away

And left me

With the memory

Of something I never had

It was never mine to hold

It belonged to some other

Whose tears of missing it

Will breathe new life

On it’s return

Sharon Carter-Wray

 

(29^thNovember 1990)