Poem: An Afterthought | In the Wake of What Could Have Been

An Afterthought

Making the mistakes that were never made,
but the tragedy strikes on everyone,
tired of playing the old blame game,
tired of fighting from putting the race’s name to shame,

But the honour gets a dirty hand of grease every day.
Who knew life would turn out this way,
where there would be so little to say,
while the bulk of the task consisted of finding needle in hay,

shouldn’t have swayed so easily from life,
shouldn’t have been so eager to throw it all away.

“An Afterthought” is a poem that captures the weight of regret and the quiet reflections that come with it. As I wrote this poem, I was thinking about the mistakes we make, the tiredness that comes from repeating the same patterns, and the realization that life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect.

The poem begins with a sense of frustration—acknowledging mistakes that, in hindsight, seem almost inevitable. It’s about those moments when life throws challenges our way, and we’re left wondering how things ended up the way they did. There’s a sense of weariness in the lines, a tiredness from constantly playing the blame game and trying to avoid the shame that often comes with failure.

One of the central ideas in the poem is the struggle to maintain honor and integrity in a world that often feels messy and unfair. Life can get complicated, and sometimes it feels like every day adds another layer of grime to our efforts to do the right thing. It’s a reflection on how life can take unexpected turns, leaving us with little to say, even as we grapple with challenges that seem impossible to overcome.

The poem closes with a deep sense of regret—a wish that I hadn’t been so quick to give up or let go when things got tough. It’s a recognition that maybe I should have held on a little longer, tried a little harder, and not been so eager to throw it all away.

Writing “An Afterthought” was a way for me to process these feelings and come to terms with the reality that life is full of challenges and mistakes, but also opportunities to learn and grow. It’s a reminder that while we can’t always avoid making mistakes, we can choose how we respond to them and how we move forward.