dVerse wants us to use a line from this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, Burning the Old Year in a new poem of our own. I chose two lines: “absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space” and “only the things I didn’t do “ Almost half my adult life was spent with my first husband, who died this Christmas, and I found those two lines particularly poignant.
Life changes us constantly
yet the past is immutable.
Only the things I didn’t do
remain to haunt me.
Absence shouts … leaves a space
nags at me, demands attention
makes me wonder what might have been.
What if, what if, what if…
Vivinfrance's Blog 
i suppose.. one of the
sAddest pARts oF
modern life.. iS..
some folks
never even
gain the now
to determine
what iT is
they
even
missed
out on..
An era
now with
no kNows
FeeLinG
self iN
reflecTion
liGht.. now
iS a dArk
age of Human Hell.. wITh
out mirror laKes oF BeinG Human..:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved every word of this. Just because you can’t live with them, doesn’t mean you don’t care about them. Had a lot of what if but now I realize everything is in proper order as it should be. No more regrets.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We all have our ‘what ifs’ but you have expressed it very powerfully. I particularly like “Only the things I didn’t do / remain to haunt me.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a touching poem by a woman who does not live on the surface of life.
We met a young man from Noirmoutiers today. He and G enjoyed chatting in French.
LikeLiked by 1 person
such authentic emotion – what if, indeed
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing this, Viv. We all question, asking what if and why. Pondering and wondering. Well done, Dear!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes:
Only the things I didn’t do
remain to haunt me.
This is such an important realization once we reach “a certain age.” Too bad it takes so long.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are so many what ifs… but too rarely we think of those that could have made it worse… the glass is half full after all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
and that’s a comfort.
LikeLike
I definitely do understand this. We look back at life and have a lot of ‘what if’ questions! And, alas, we will never really know the answers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
the past is immutable – what if
That can be a long, injurious fall. Regrets are good only if they make us change ourselves.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am very sorry for the loss of your husband. From that grief has come a beautiful poem.
LikeLike
Oh! this is soo touching.. the emotion thaws at the inner layers of the heart..!
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Absence shouts…’ Vivid and beautiful. How old was he, Viv? Did you remain in touch? Maybe part of the things you didn’t do. So easy to look back with regret, but immutable is right. Sending hugs this rainy British day 🙂
LikeLike
82, and yes we were in touch from time to time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is sad to have the thoughts of regrets, for the things we should have done ~ Sorry again for the loss of your husband ~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent, although I hope these thoughts aren’t constant. >
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, exactly, you capture that rather self-destructive strand of ‘what ifs’ so well…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most of my regrets seem to be property based. We always seem to buy at the peak and sell at the trough – if we hadn’t we might be better off now. Still, it’s only money and, as you say, ‘the past is immutable’.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try so hard not to look back and regret. If you’re busy looking back over your shoulder, you can stumble over the realities of now. My chief regret is that I didn’t meet the Husband many years ago, but there’s no way it could have happened so I don’t waste much time on it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
very wise advice.
LikeLike