jln.

The most painful phrases,
I think, are

"could have been"
"should have been"
"would have been"

-- They reek of regret
and painful sighs that shoot
down your spine to your soul
back to your heart - already broken -
trying to break it more.

-- They indicate dreams and
images of things than can now
only take place in your mind
happening only in your breath
disappears as your eye blinks

back whatever is before you
reality or whatever

and attempts to open you
to another world where
things happen as you think
it should, could, would.

©jln.