Regrets
come so easily. I find them here at my door, scraping like the
cat wanting to get out at night: coming in wild-eyed with a new
smell. I can usually brush them aside with those cobwebs in the
hall. Leave them under the dusty mat. At the hairdressers regret
is everywhere. Before the mirror I sit captive to loss. And they
creep up unannounced at someone’s funeral: hit you front on so
you’re out of breath. But what can you do? Peggy Lee drowned
them in ‘Coffee and cigarettes’ but that never does it for me.
Indecision is an open invitation: second thoughts are dangerous.
Better to look ahead with expectation. Possibilities are said to be
endless.
Patience
is said to be a virtue. My neighbours have endless patience. They
wait until I come home to play their heavy metal collection. But
impatience can be a positive for a change. Just look at queues.
People will get in line for anything. In the city they block streets,
hold up pedestrians, waiting for a Ready-Teller, sit in cars for
hours as the traffic crawls along. (Now who’s ‘moving in the
fast lane’?) Life in the 21st Century is so minimal. We live in the
moment. The ‘imp’ of impatience is like a Fury on speed. If you’re
out of range there’s no need to react. The touch of a key will send
your on-line thoughts flying around the world.
Brenda Saunders is a Sydney poet and artist of Aboriginal and British descent. Her work has been published widely on the web and in literary journals. She has read on Awaye and Poetica ABC RN and in 2012 she was invited to read at the Sydney Writers’ Festival and the Queensland Poetry Festival. [Bio as at 1st Dec 2012]