The Hardest Word

BY CAROLE NICHOLS

Cancel, erase, delete, remove;
Such necessary words, I fear.
But regret is the one that hurts,
The hardest word for me to hear.
It slashes like a razor deep,
Cuts away at a wounded soul;
The heart bleeds tears of helplessness
And leaves a lonely, empty hole.


I should have heeded the warnings,
Spoken in anger so long ago;
Should have acted with more caution,
Too late for that, now, I know.
So I live with the final word, regret,
Repeating itself in my mind;
And sincere sorrow that it has hurt
Someone who once was good and kind.


You are so forever gone,
Hoping to recover your heart;
Hoping to save and restore a faith,
Hoping to make another start.
I find myself crossing my fingers,
Hoping your dreams do come true;
You'll never know, because of regret,
That I didn't do this to you.