deepundergroundpoetry.com
I Need a Reset Button for My Life (sonnet)
I need a reset button for my life,
A chance to chart a course on a blank slate,
Unplant the seeds that blossomed pain and strife,
And brought a bitter harvest to my plate.
I walked by open doors that closed behind,
With eyes fixed only forward on my course,
Trying to do what’s right, I’ve been unkind,
Attempts to avoid pain just made it worse.
I should have explored many other paths,
That led to orchards that would bear sweet fruit,
My solitary one has led to wrath,
The seeds I planted would themselves uproot.
What use is wisdom when it comes too late?
There is no reset button to cheat fate
A chance to chart a course on a blank slate,
Unplant the seeds that blossomed pain and strife,
And brought a bitter harvest to my plate.
I walked by open doors that closed behind,
With eyes fixed only forward on my course,
Trying to do what’s right, I’ve been unkind,
Attempts to avoid pain just made it worse.
I should have explored many other paths,
That led to orchards that would bear sweet fruit,
My solitary one has led to wrath,
The seeds I planted would themselves uproot.
What use is wisdom when it comes too late?
There is no reset button to cheat fate
Published 15th Jun 2024
Author's Note
I've completed my first novel. In the writing process that often included all-nighters, the bittersweet pain of so many could-have-beens came to the surface in fiction that too closely emulates life.
If only we could rewrite our own lives--make different choices, walk through the many doors that remained open in our youth that we ignored blindly trudging on what we mistakenly believed to be the right path. What would I not give to be able to rewrite the novel that is my life and find happy endings for myself and all I've touched? What would I give to unring bells that should never have been rung? To undo pain to loved ones wrought not by malice but by misguided good intentions?
If only we could rewrite our own lives--make different choices, walk through the many doors that remained open in our youth that we ignored blindly trudging on what we mistakenly believed to be the right path. What would I not give to be able to rewrite the novel that is my life and find happy endings for myself and all I've touched? What would I give to unring bells that should never have been rung? To undo pain to loved ones wrought not by malice but by misguided good intentions?
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
Anonymous
15th Jun 2024 11:07pm
You put it all into perspective so well, Victor. I myself would love to have a reset button. So many mistakes and unhappy events could be washed away. But as we know, life is done on the spot.
Great poem.
Great poem.
16th Jun 2024 2:39am
16th Jun 2024 1:19am
I have often wondered about going back and starting again.
It would make a good sci-fi rom com
A machine that lets you relive your youth again.
Regards James
It would make a good sci-fi rom com
A machine that lets you relive your youth again.
Regards James
16th Jun 2024 2:44am
Funny you should mention a sci-fi rom-com. I actually wrote a short story about a man who could not live with a mistake in his life and invented a neural interface indistinguishable from reality to allow him to go back and try to correct his error on a one-way trip into a virtual reality from which he knew there could be no return--all, of course, in the name of love, of course. Alas, though, there is no reset button in real life--at least not yet. Thanks for the feedback. Appreciated!
16th Jun 2024 4:26pm
16th Jun 2024 9:24pm
Anonymous
- Edited 31st Jul 2024 7:45pm
19th Jun 2024 1:08am
<< post removed >>
19th Jun 2024 2:09am
Thank you for the kind words, Zelle_mima. Appreciated. Alas, there is no reset button, but we can always make our own fresh start. Better days are always ahead, though the hard days and hard seasons can make it hard to see. I bid you peace.
Anonymous
- Edited 31st Jul 2024 7:45pm
19th Jun 2024 2:13am
<< post removed >>
