VILLANELLE — Echoes of Regret

I regret not speaking to you when I had the chance

My mind returns to you though you’re no longer near

I long for the days when our voices could still embrace

The silence between us was never just by chance

Yet your echo persists, steady, sharp and sincere

I regret not speaking to you when I had the chance

I replay every moment like a faded romance

Obsessed with the memory I still hold dear

I long for the days when our voices could still embrace

Each night you arrive in my dreams like a trance

A presence so vivid it erases the fear

I regret not speaking to you when I had the chance

My heart wanders backward—no choice, no advance

Searching through shadows of all we could’ve been, clear

I long for the days when our voices could still embrace

Inside every memory you continue to enhance

A ghost I embrace though you’re never quite here

I regret not speaking to you when I had the chance

I long for the days when our voices could still embrace