Regrets

~*~

I could have tried much harder to protect you;
questioned your orders, made you change your mind.
But love and pride compelled me to respect you,
so I obeyed and you were left behind.

I should have spied the danger that befell you
and warned you that you faced a mortal foe.
With quickened stride, I turned and tried to tell you.
I was too late to stop that fatal blow.

I would have died a thousand times to save you,
to halt your headlong charge into the fray.
To fall beside you, knowing that I gave you
the chance to live and fight another day.

I should have cried but time and place forbade me
so I just kept on fighting through the pain.
Yet, forced to hide how losing you unmade me,
I never really found myself again.

~*~

Poem by solitaryjo, originally uploaded onto Tumblr