A Sonnet — Against Regret

There are some years I'd love to toss behind
and even decades pained with twists and ache,
so many scenes I'd just as soon rewind
if I could only roll another take—

I should have seen the storm that time carried
before I shingled my roof with half-lies,
should never in a million have married
until I sprouted my own set of eyes.

The short way, though, that led out of that scrape
was not a swift Euclidean line.
To reach this point, electric as Christmas,

I had to circle all around the cape
and sting my eyes with Magellanic brine
just to cross over a skinny isthmus.

Copyright © 2004 Zack Rogow All rights reserved
from Carquinez Poetry Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission