Mr Noble Regrets

Mr. Noble Regrets

A Poem

By Richard E. Noble

It was the most unrewarding, unfulfilling
thing that I have ever done.

Why I devoted so much of my life to it
I will never understand.

For the most part
it only made me miserable.

It didn’t do much
for anyone else either.

I should have just ignored the whole thing
and let it die.

Who would believe all the time
and all the hours?

For a time
it was my whole life.

Every waking moment
was spent thinking, preparing, anticipating.

I thought it to be the most important
thing in all of life.

If I had never given it one second
my life would have been more rewarding.

But for that time it became more important to me
than life itself.

I wouldn’t be able to live without it,
I thought.

But live I did;
and life was better.

It was easier to handle, more sensible,
more focused and more realistic.

Not being able to let it go, I think,
made me into a creature other than myself at times.

When I reflect upon it now
I can’t imagine what I was thinking.

I made myself miserable
and for no reason whatsoever.

I say that I won’t ever let it happen again
but, you know, I think it is happening again - right now.