Best No Regrets Poems
unfold age
fold in youth
find lost time
Never let PRESENT
Become the PAST at which you
Look back from the FUTURE and
Perceive with regret
What you should not have let drift
Seize the moment live THE NOW
Footnote:
The Future is a mystery which starts with the magic in the Present.
Please take time to listen to the lyrics in the video clip - which are very expressive of my poem.
Video clip:
Magic - No Regrets/2016
In times of impending demise, you might see your life being replayed across your mind. Sometimes it’s in fast forward, sometimes in slow motion, sometimes both at once. Life flashes in random order, constantly cycling in and out like an out of control tilt-a-whirl at the county fair. You’d think that with all those moments stuck on a playback loop that one would walk away with perfect recall of all the events. Not true. You can remember things like the first time you pooped in your diaper and that piece of Bazooka Joe bubble gum you pocketed when you were ten years old. Every detail, no matter how small or insignificant will come flooding back. But what the heck just went down, draws a complete blank.
when death feels certain,
life flashes by in seconds—
don’t regret the show
Find yourself
Come face to face
Against a wall or
In a warm embrace.
See yourself
A slivery shadow
Eager to pounce
ready to know.
Touch yourself
A string of words
Snapped by emotion
Fired by verbs.
Smell yourself
A certain stench
Washed in blood
Do not flinch.
Taste yourself
A salty rage
Bitter as bile
Or sweetened by age.
No Regrets My Love
~~~~~
tanka tales
for you my sweet love
no regrets
I would do it all again
tales of our past my love
~~~~
have we forgot time
the time that was when we loved
a country walk us
together memories made
a son two daughters much loved
~~~~
the time that was ours
altercations end in bed
shh no more listen
have we forgot time that was
gazing... counting shooting stars
~~~~
have we forgot time...
how love endured rough... and smooth
hate played not a part
if we could walk we ran halfway
nature was our guide to life
~~~~
memories now past
have we forgot time eyes wide
looking back no void
life was lived to its fullest
you... me... aged... holding on
Tomorrow is never promised, yesterday has passed
We must live for the moment, today will not last
When I seek His face each night and day
He gently guides me to walk life His way
With my old damaged life left in the past
I am now and forever finally free at last
In a world of reality
Our dreams turned into a fantasy
He loves me with a pure unconditional love
A love He sent to me from the Heaven's above
Gone is the agony from painful past years
It is Jesus who now calms my fears and dries my tears
Sure we all try to forget.
The yesterdays of regret.
What lies beyond tomorrow no one truly knows;
But as sure as there’s a future past tomorrow is where it goes
Yesterdays is where my memory stays
Thinking of old and innocent ways
Gone are the days I chased with haste
For not a moment did I waste
Relaxing in the sun, my remaining days
I have of no regrets in thinking of the times of yesterdays
No regrets Never look back Full speed ahead Fifth gear always
When I was a young'un growing up
Never really imagined how my life would turn out
Back then, I was just happy to eat, sleep, and play with friends
Well now that I'm an old duffer and looking back
I can honestly say my journey was way above average
With no regrets, no wish to change a single thing
Except for one... Linda, my loving wife of 42 years
Sadly passed away from breast cancer in 1999
We had a family of 5 wee ones, 3 of our own and 2 adopted
We just lived a comfortable life not wanting for anything
I wasn't famous... didn't own a mansion on a hill
Had a successful career of 55 years as a graphic designer
My present wife is Cathie, a second dear loving wife
Tied the knot 13 years ago and have a beautiful union
How fortunate can one person be
So as the title says... I can honestly say I have no regrets!
© Jack Ellison 2014
Johnnie lad ye've been me friend for more than fifty years,
Ye propped me up when I'd have fallen flat upon me face.
Ye never laughed at what I said or at me foolish fears,
And suffered through me tempers with happy smiling grace.
When I were but a laddie, Da taught me how to be a man,
And Mama taught me about Church and that 'tis a sin to lie.
But John ye taught me how to be the best man that I can,
And that theres worse things that a man can do than cry.
But its angel wings i'm hearin' now, a flutterin' up there,
I think I'm heaven bound and pray that I am right.
If I am ye know theres credit due and yours the lions share,
For I'm fair certain that I'll be checkin' out tonight.
So take me hand old comrade, and let me take yours in love,
And let me tell ye that no man has ever had a better friend.
I'll be savin' ye a place right next to me in heaven up above,
Grieve not for me laddie buck, for death is not the end.
Maybe one day,
A page will be found,
A song will be heard,
A stroke will be drawn
Filled with explanations.
Maybe one day,
The nuckawi and silapin, beautiful as a field of khao mai
Will be vindicated.
A family will start.
A child will learn the names of a stranger who believed in them
Before they even met.
Maybe one day,
A heart will remember a brother, a sister, a crime, a moment of love,
A chronicle of a city, a haiku from Japan.
A teacher.
A friend on the other side of your eye.
Until then, what is certain?
Night arrives, then day. The moon, the sun, the rain and waves.
A few other things, maybe something someone will write down.
Maybe not.
When it comes to doing the right thing by ratting on the enemies and/or whatnot, these
people have no regrets. When it comes to dating and writing poems of their own, there's no
turning back. And when it comes to getting into positive situations in life, there's no
way out. These type of things have been like that since day one, especially way before we
were born. For one, having no regrets mean he or she has done nothing wrong. The second
part is when he or she's planning on doing something out of the ordinary like going
sky-diving, snowboarding, or whatever, there's no turning back for them. And when it comes
to doing the right thing like giving back to the community, trying to prevent disasters
from happening day in and day out, there's no way out of those great situations. Seems as
though God has been watching all of us human beings for some time to come, even after the
Earth was created. The best thing about not making a lot of regrets in life is when he or
she's got a free spirit and a pure heart. Well, I guess good fortune will happen to the
ones who don't have selfish agendas or whatever. And if these people keep up doing the
right thing for their communities and stuff, there's no telling what positive thing might
happen next. And just like I said: "No Regrets, No Turning Back, and No Way Out."
I don’t believe in limits under the sun
Because this life is filled with ineffable fun
Years from now looking back at what I’ve done
To my surprise, I took that run
All the way to the top of that ladder
Killing fears because they don’t matter
I don’t know how far I will I go
But from this point, no regrets shall show
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.
Two throws of tens and let the dice roll,
that some may live, and some may die,
and at death, are comforted by soul’s mantle light.
For deep beneath a vast ocean of lies,
that have always foretold a promised place -
where no righteous man or woman have ever been …
Is where bright stars never rise or fall,
and wide rivers that cease to ebb and flow,
where angel’s trumpets neither sound nor blow -
Is where blindness shadows endless tears,
and jihadist dreams that fall on deafened ears,
where lost Caliphates, Mullahs and prostrate Emirs …
Is where emptiness has no regrets,
a naked silence, shattered monuments,
where four seasons weep, and all Heaven ends -
for their faith’s reward - is abandonment.
Off to the big audition to be a showgirl
This lofty lady her big head all a swirl
In the grandstand was the grand plan
She knew she can can do that can can
At least at one point she thought she could could
Perhaps those old joints don't bend so good good
But damn the odds she took that mainstage
And kicked like hell to turn a new page
She shocked the pants right off those judges
So no regrets could hold old grudges
Could it be the next great show headliner
Be this ancient bobblehead with eye liner
Well!... No, that's not quite realistic really
But what a story!.. a bit simplistic and silly
The truth of this big noggin at one hundred
Was a standing ovation and compromise said
The judges gave her free passes for the show
Kick it up a notch now and then, or you'll truly never know