Regret Bleeds To Longing

Regret beats down like rain
Longing is like a still aquifer
No matter how I cup my hands
Regrets slip through my fingers
Filters underground to longing

All my failures transpire
Comes down in a torrent
The soil drinks all my regrets
Pools into something pure
Kilometers out of reach 

I bring out a shovel
But emptiness has no soil
Here's my drill too short 
But my bit is too brittle
It breaks just out of reach ‘

The soil of a failed marriage
The topsoil of a son divided
Each grain of my shortcomings
Receiving my sweat and blood
Meet sweet and sour longing

Quenched then parched again
Give me living water, Jesus 
Make me porous enough
Solute dissolved into solution
That nothing drains to longing 

If I could let go of solidity
To be dissolved by regrets
To be transfigured to water 
So, I dig my well, empty
Not knowing I am the Pacific

Make a home in the desert
Regret right as rain, me askew 
Sweet longing out of reach 
Myself, their conduit broken
Dig into the impossible China 

Not knowing I’m 70% water 
Knowing, make me a pail
A small hole if regret overflows
Myself a drop of gritty blood 
Reaching toward the water table
Longing like the salty ocean
Copyright © | Year Posted 2023

Poem

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Empress Avatar
November 1, 2023 at 12:18 AM
A very deep and creative write this is! I love so many lines in this that made me ponder along with the metaphors and alliterations and wordplay that flows in such eloquence! So many emotions woven here! Pleasure reading this
Narain Avatar
October 31, 2023 at 10:51 AM
Very emotional poem. We all go through hard times, but there is always hope.
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