Remorse Poems | Examples

List of Member Poems

Mea Culpa

Everything i did for you


Is not enough



The sacrifice i bid for you


Is not enough




Everything I've been through



I'd do it again for you



Everything I've bled through



I'd do it again for you





The things that i would die for



Is not enough



The things they took my life for


Is not enough



Wanted me on the side walk
Fighting a psy-war
You are the one that i try for




is not enough...




Everything I've been through



I'd do it again for you



Everything I've bled through



I'd do it again for you






I stopped thinking about me


When i think about you


I stopped thinking about me


When i think about you





Everything I've been through



I'd do it again for you



Everything I've bled through



I'd do it again for you

I’m not a cat

If I were a cat
I’d scratch this and that
To me it wouldn’t matter

I’d pee on the floor
Chip paint off the door
Maybe jump on the counter

I act like a cat
Thinking this and that
But actions always matter

So now I’m a man
I sit with my sham
And I begin to shatter

Because I can see
It always was she
Left crying, dying, after

Premium Member Sincere Remorse

A deep hunger from my breast arose, 
from my head down to my toes, 
or perhaps my stomach was the source. 
Anyway, I ate a horse,
and I'm suffering remorse.


Premium Member remorse

heart stricken with remorse
too much pain in losing you
please reconsider

Lord,Bear With me

Bear , with me,Lord, upon my lonely way;
Your guiding hand I need to see the light,
And keep my soul from going astray.

My steps once led with a corrupted band;
We ran the streets where bullets ripped the night;
I know the cell and the cold and empty hand.

Despised and homeless,lost in my own land,
You kept me safe,allowed a second sight;
Now bear with me,I kneel to understand.

My heart turned cold to kindness freely shown;
I trod down paths of malice and strife,
And left behind a bitter seed I'd sown.

For what I did,let justice take its own;
I failed to amend my wasted,harmful life,
And now,with shattered pride,I stand alone.

Stripped of all pride,my hollow heart is bare;
Emptied of self,I know that you are right,
Bear with me,Lord,upon my lonely way

Premium Member Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

What does it mean to live a finite, fragile life in an infinite, indifferent universe? ~ Prof. Brian Cox.

As the Moon rises in the east
barely showing its face above the horizon
the Penumbral Eclipse takes form
heralding the full weight of the time
a new Shadow was about to be cast over me.
Dark has cloaked my deeds up until now.
The Blood Moon enchants with its splendour
and ultimately the reflected light from the Sun 
is embraced by illuminated corners of my heart—
subdued, as it reflects tentative forgiveness
rewarding me for changing my ways.

I’m set in my ways.
I yearn for unconditional forgiveness
of the ingrained dark corners of my heart—
reflecting my own perception of me. 
A Blood Moon stirs fear in the heart
as my darkly disturbing thoughts reveal secrets.
Old shadows are difficult to cast off—
taunted by the recall of lighthearted times.  
When the Penumbral Eclipse faded
remorse latched onto the dark side 
of the moon on its arc to set in the west.


Premium Member He Wore the Look of Remorse

Boldly colored days each Fall give hope
that a new beginning; a new season
will ease his sorrows and help him cope
with her absence, but he longs for a reason.

Life meant nothing. Often, people queried
his state of mind and wished him the best.
He always looked gaunt and rather wearied.
With his wife's whereabouts, he was obsessed.

Daily, Edward felt grief heighten inside
his heart, wondering how he could've been blind,
and why in him she felt she couldn't confide.
Never, to his beloved had he ever been unkind.

Lurid, mysterious notes only provided quandaries
that left him more confused than he was before.
He'd never suspected there had been boundaries
between them. The look of remorse he sadly wore.

Suspended Faults

I felt as small as a winter’s flower
yet as tall as an old oak tree
the seconds dragged on for what seemed like hours
when my world turned in on me

the cloak I wore was of little comfort
just to bridge between present and past
I held onto this and other secrets
no more a peasant but a king at last           

by the time I had finished speaking 
the crowd erupted with applause
then towards me they were reaching 
as the judgment came into force

the mask was meant to protect me
from what no one should have seen
a noose was placed just oh so gently
I thought it was a bit extreme

I sank into the grain that supported
absorbed deep in the fibres below
my legs gave way it was reported 
I wriggled until they let me go.

Baggage

Like ghosts in my pockets, weighing me down,
burdens echoing with quiet sorrow,
coiling tight around the soul in silent pain.

Some weights like umbrellas cast aside after storms,
others iron shackles, rusted, locked in permanence—
all carried unseen, but deeply felt.

Knots in the spine, scars engraved on the mind,
tangled threads, riotous roots of clinging shadows—
held tight, wrapped in sorrow and guilt.

The weight of unspoken words,
unfinished tasks, unkept promises,
and unmanageable memories—
all soaked deep in regret.

Letting go is not an option
when remorse is all you have,
and anguish your only friend.

Premium Member Remorse

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these ‘it might have been’—John Greenleaf Whittier  


                                  without deep regret 
                                   apologetic parrot ~                                                       
                                    squawks   m  
                                                         i  n d   racked   a
                                                                               n
                                                                                g
                                                                                  u i s h

the words not said

and so words not said
like rusty nails through my palms
      glare crimson, ablaze

Desert-lands of remorse

If desert-lands of remorse can be crossed ahead, enough,
Cage deemed as open sky, if my wings can be spread, enough.
      Yon, when the winking sky is found willing to welcome me, 
      If just half-closed window can be all-ajar made, enough.
To set foot-tracks on hills, for long remaining a pipe dream,  
If just its tracks drawn on a map can I well tread, enough.
      Rather than getting clogged on polluted past memories,
      If with the breath of caprice my lungs can be fed, enough.
Not so fair to foul destiny’s fame, though found notorious, 
If summons be sent to the ill choices I made, enough. 
      Who’s appellant and advocate? Who’s witness and the judge?
      When curtains raised, if I can prove my acting grade, enough.    
Impressing sky if I can just get my wings spread, enough,
Leaving hind all regrets if I can walk ahead, enough.
________________________________________   
Ghazal |14.03.2025 |
Note: Inspired, a Gujarati poem by Dr Neelee Desai, no translation:

Agonizing indecision

Just how much courage does it take?                                                                                  
To stick to the plan that I’d made                                                                      
And why should I be afraid?
                                                                                                                                               
To live my own destined fate                                                                            
When all I could do is hate                                                                                
All the things that I have said
                                                                                                                                                
Can’t I just stay in the bed?
With no sorrows and no regret                                                                     
But the image of it in my head                                                                 
Keeps on replaying until the end

Shattered Timelines of Grief

Grief is an earthquake, sudden and unforgiving,
Splitting the ground beneath your feet,
Turning the familiar into fractured ruin.
It shakes the foundations of who you are,
Toppling memories like crumbling buildings,
Leaving nothing but dust where laughter once stood.
Aftershocks linger in the quiet moments,
A tremor in your chest, a crack in your voice.
You try to rebuild, but the landscape has changed-
The world tilts differently without them in it.
Some days, you step forward, thinking the worst has passed,
Only to stumble as the earth quivers once more,
A song, a scent, a whispered name-
And suddenly the fault lines widen,
Swallowing you whole in a moment’s collapse.
Times move on, but the wreckage remains, 
Slowly, painfully, you clear the rubble,
Learning to build around the gaps,
Knowing the scars will never fade,
But hoping, one day, the ground will hold steady again.
And as the years pass, you realize-
No matter how many walls you raise,
Or how many roads you pave over the broken earth,
You are still standing in the ruins of what once was,
Waiting for a home that will never be rebuilt.

Premium Member Of All Those Memories

Of all those memories that come around,
each with boundless beauty or fond remorse,
yours flood frenzied dreams with troubling abound
of all those memories

My mind, muddled, alters its centered course.
Your voice echoes with its hypnotic sound
as I fervently flail, seeking the source.

With desperate hope, lost memories found,
my senses stricken with electric force,
I sharply slump into muted astound
of all those memories.

Sub Categories

Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.

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