WE KEPT SAYING

We kept saying 

we had ‘no regrets’ 

while we voiced all 

the regrets that came 

with lovers feeling 

betrayed. 

Feelings, we both know, 

are only that, and not 

in and of themselves 

real. How were we to know 

that loving each other 

would mean 'they' felt less 

loved, even though

 it were not true. 

“Come back to me,” your lover said. 

But really? You never left, 

and that was a part of the lie, 

crafting a story of betrayal, 

of intrigue, of subterfuge. 

You were my Man; 

I was your Woman. 

but sometimes 
I cannot breathe 

because of they way 

your “no regrets” 

regrets

So let's tell this truth: 

we both have regrets, 

though mine are very 

different from yours—

and we ought to 

admit that too.

© Valerie Bridgeman
October 4, 2013