Time Travel

I wish I could go back in time,

Stand in the middle of two bodies,

One large, another small,

One cowering, another towering,

One sobbing, the other spitting words of fury,

And point a gun at his chest,

Telling him through clenched teeth,

To never hit her again.

I wish I could go back in time,

Grab a father’s wrist,

As he walks through the glowing door,

Hand him a hundred,

Tell him to go home to his wife and toddling girl,

To not attack the man behind the counter,

Filling his pockets with a mere $58,

That his daughter needs him,

Because he doesn’t know who his wife will find,

While he is in jail.

I wish I could go back in time,

Grab a mother’s bony fingers before they tangle in a teenager’s hair,

Clench a hand over her lips before she can tell her she’s worthless,

Won’t go anywhere,

A miserable, stupid crook like her father,

And the other man,

Laying on the couch behind her,

Is so drunk he doesn’t know where he is.

But I can’t go back in time.

I can only hold her,

Eyes drip, drip, dripping like an old sink faucet,

As she tells me of a past,

That never should have been so. 

Reviews

[Taino]

So many regretful decisions in our lives, so many wrong we’ve wished to make right. Rewinding time to correct the past may not change the outcome, but who wouldn’t try?

[Great Aunt Astri]

Lots of feeling in this poem. Sadly we can't go back and change things. Sometimes we do just have to 'hold her' and be a listening ear. Well done for writing this poem.

[Michael (Letters and Li..]

Aarea, I'm so glad to see you back on here and writing great pieces like this one.

You've touched on something here that resonates with everyone - Wanting to go back and change the past. I love how you expressed everything through very specific examples, which made the poem feel so much more real. It's a great piece and you're a great writer.

[Phill Oz O'fee]

Regrets of the past come back to haunt – but alas, as you have poignantly pointed out through your emotional write, this cannot be reversed; only resolved through healing! Great write ….