Reprisal Or Regret

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Reprisal or regret - both are meant to punish
Reprisal slaps the hand; regret lingers in the heart
Competitors of the fiercest kind,
Like weeds sown in among the wheat,
both sprout in the same field,
but only one of them wins out.

Reprisals are sharp thorns from stabbing tongues
causing deep wounds that may never heal.
Regrets are sown in the seams of a guilty mind
Where no salve can reach, and scars remain.

Regret, why do you thirst so hard after me?
Be gone to slake your enmity elsewhere
on some other unsuspecting prey.
You've tempted me to give in many times,
but not yet have I succumbed to your wiles.

I've paid the price reprisal asked,
I will continue to let his words condemn me.
But I shall live without one iota of regret
You'll hear no "What ifs" in my plaintive voice.
Feast upon carrion until you've had your fill.
My back is turned to your endless malevolence
You won't be singing songs of remorse for me.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2016



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Date: 2/25/2016 2:48:00 PM
very powerful and beautifully written, lin!
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Lane Avatar
Lin Lane
Date: 2/25/2016 3:29:00 PM
Thanks, Ilene.
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