Regret (Poem)

The bitter sting of regret.

Acrid flavor of a life unlived,

And paths not taken.

The desperate yearning for so much more.

I should be thankful,

I should be sated,

But I can’t be happy.

Not like you.

The ties that bind,

Are of my own creation.

Shackles of fear,

They hold me down,

Suffocate me.

Trapped.

The rattle deafens me,

The manacles cut me,

I am consumed by the chains of regret.