If Only...

A poem about regret.

If only I'd been brave enough,

To stand and face my fears,

My nights would have been restful,

My anxiety disappeared.

If only I'd been happy enough,

To chase my dreams in to the hills,

My days would have been sunny,

My mind would be still.

If only I'd been strong enough,

To say what's in my head,

My life would look different,

And I'd be someone else instead.

Reviews

[Fabian G. Franklin]

There is always time and hope. Time is limited but Alexander Pope assured us "hope springs eternal". If we take the time to fulfill our hope or at least work towards it, perhaps that will make us happy? It does require strength. But we are never alone and there's strength in numbers. First, we must make our voice heard and find our allies. There's support for almost anything out there. We just need to find our own tribe. Thank you for the interesting and thought invoking poetry. I enjoyed. F.

[willweb]

If only I had been someone different, I wouldn't have been myself. I often wonder who I would have been if I wasn't me. There are times I think, it would have been someone so much better and other times I think, hell, I like me just the way I am. And sometimes I don't really care one way or the other. Very cool my friend, The me I am liked this.

[Scott Andrews]

As my other half so often reminds me, it's the paths we walked that brought us here, and without the twists and turns we would never have met. It comforts me.

[Coyote Poetry]

A powerful and worthwhile poem. You asked the questions. All of us ask ourselves. I believe in the end. We decide our place, we decide our journey. Thank you Scott for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[Scott Andrews]

Some of us are all about the destination, whilst the rest of us are about the journey. Thank you for your kind words.

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome Scott.

[emmajoy]

Read.. read.. nodding.. then
laughed like a drain unblocked!
Many thank yous for a tonic poem,
neatly put!

[Scott Andrews]

My pleasure. 'A tonic poem'. It's not a phrase I've heard before, but I'm pretty certain I've found plenty of them on here.

[emmajoy]

We need to need the smiles between the other stuff, hence 'tonic poem'. Won't be copied by the purishts but then.. ..

[Gee]

The "if onlys" are what we use to shape our future, if strong enough.
I'm not a great one for looking to the past as life is way to short.
Enjoyed your words

So funny to read about the clothes pegs when reading about you:)

[Scott Andrews]

Thank you kindly.

I think sometimes we have to repackage our past, in something like a spring cleaning form time to time. Throw away the memories we don't need anymore, dust off the ones we want to keep and put the ones we are not ready to face back into the boxes for another time.

Now I can assure you the clothes peg story is absolutely true. For whatever reason I was born without nerves in my cheeks allowing me to be an olympic calibre face pegging champion.

[John the Baptist]

The past is dead, and only one's attention keeps it alive. Every moment is a starting line.

[Scott Andrews]

As the choir sings in one of my favourite songs "Everything changed in a day, and before you know another one is on the way'

[Kelly Scheppers]

I believe the if onlys, coulda, woulda and shoulda all get us in the end! It's almost impossible to exit this life without regret. Keep the faith, Scott!

[Scott Andrews]

I wrote this a few years ago not long after I'd had a nervous breakdown. I feel very different now as I did then. As my other half continually reminds me, all of our experiences brought us to the moment we could be together. I think it's a more positive way to look at things as it is often a culmination of a million small decisions that brings the right person into your path.