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Apr 05, 2026
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The Version Where I Arrived Sooner
Rewriting Memory
Some three decades later, it haunts me in some way
I can still see the scene and scenario clear as day
Missed chances can taunt us in that constant replay
But even then, I knew the exact words to say
Yet now, in the version where I arrived sooner
Our talk would have had a little more depth
Even though I was young with that sense of humor
There was a passion in me that had quite the breadth
Maybe it was because I was so young and naïve
At the time there were endless possibilities
Then again in those days I didn’t really perceive
That the sail through life wasn’t going to be a breeze
It was some years later when I stood at that place
The old wood bench felt like it was the fork in the road
But had I arrived sooner we would have embraced
Now it’s just a memory preserved in this ode
About This Poem
Last Few Words: NaPoWriMo2026 Day 5
Review Request Direction: Is the internal logic consistent?
Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
Editing Stage: Editing - polished draft
Comments
John Leslie O'Kelley
2 weeks 3 days ago
The Version Where I Arrived sooner
I can relate to this poem, because I know you can't turn the pages back. We all make choices that come with, sometimes immediate consequences, but sometimes we escape without a scrape. If this is about losing love, because of indecision, well that's just the way this poem made me feel and I appreciate that you penned this poem, it made me think of my own indiscretions. Decisions that I might or might not have made.