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No Regrets

If I could take it all back
Every wrong ever wrought
Every regrettable thing
Every broken wing

I'd lay it all to rest
In an unmarked plot
Over which I would plant 
Quiet thyme
And no-leaf clovers
Lilies of denial
And forget-me-nows

There would be no memorial
No elegy, no eulogy 
No monody, no dirge
Not even a calaverita
Unless one is desperate
Enough to count this poem
This nobituary, if you will    

No lamentation
No regrets
No go-away birds 
No mourning doves
Nor egrets to bear the pall 

Only leave the dead featherless
Laid down without down
To comfort them
And the egrets
Stand stilted and white 
As nothing
Melancholy
As marble statues
In the silk gray dusk 
Like lilies on a grave.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2022




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Date: 12/29/2022 6:19:00 PM
Dear Ina, your exquisite, poignant imagery and word play is captivating. Melancholy beauty to be savored. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan
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Goodling Avatar
Ina Goodling
Date: 12/29/2022 8:42:00 PM
Wow, thank you very much! I don't write a whole lot of free verse because I often feel like I don't know how to make adequate use of it, but every now and then, just the right inspiration comes along and I am able to write something I feel I can be proud of.

Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry