Regret Poems

Regret Poems

Poems About Regret, Remorse and Sorrow

Regret can make us feel an unrelenting bitterness like no other emotion. While regret can help us to avoid repeating a mistake, if left uncontrolled it can wreak havoc on a person. Hours, days, or weeks spent feeling regret for a past mistake is usually counterproductive. It can impede us from moving on with our life and letting go of the past. So how can someone dealing with regret cope? Many find that reading and writing poems that deal with their feelings allows them to let go once and for all.

22 Poems about Letting Go Of Past Mistakes

1 - 20 of 22

  1. 1. The Sin Of Omission

    Famous Poem

    • By Margaret E. Sangster

    It isn't the thing you do, dear,
    It's the thing you leave undone
    That gives you a bit of a heartache
    At the setting of the sun.

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    • Stories 0
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    • Favorited 3
    • Votes 27
    • Rating 4.48
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  3. 2. The Door

    Famous Poem

    There was a door stood long ajar
    That one had left for me,
    While I went trying other doors
    To which I had no key.

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    • Stories 0
    • Shares 24
    • Favorited 0
    • Votes 23
    • Rating 4.22
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  5. 3. It Might Have Been

    Famous Poem

    We will be what we could be. Do not say,
    "It might have been, had not or that, or this."
    No fate can keep us from the chosen way;
    He only might who is.

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    • Stories 0
    • Shares 1582
    • Favorited 36
    • Votes 245
    • Rating 4.07
    • Poem of the Day
  6. 4. You Will Regret

    • By Shahinaz Soliman
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2016 with permission of the Author.

    You will regret
    That you made me cry,
    That you didn't see the love in my eye,
    That you failed my heart and didn't even try.

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    • Stories 8
    • Shares 5019
    • Favorited 199
    • Votes 1000
    • Rating 4.43
    Featured Shared Story

    I met someone on social media, and from the get-go I fell deeply in love. After a few days of endless conversations and video calls, I learned that it took just one obstacle for him to leave...

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  7. 5. Alone In My Head

    • By M
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2011 with permission of the Author.

    Alone in my head,
    I'm feeling so low.
    You won't understand,
    No one can know.

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    • Stories 2
    • Shares 1817
    • Favorited 147
    • Votes 1052
    • Rating 4.38
    Featured Shared Story

    Beautiful poem! I loved the way it's presented with hints of unspoken events.

  8. 6. Words Unsaid

    Regretting the moments I took for granted,
    Moments when I was eaten by pride and hatred.
    What if I had told you what I feel?
    Would it change my life's wheel?

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    • Stories 2
    • Shares 2098
    • Favorited 116
    • Votes 740
    • Rating 4.37
    Featured Shared Story

    When I read the poems published here, my raw wound of rejected love was prodded to pain, again. I met a man in a Facebook group. I was attracted to him as if there was no other man in the...

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  9. 7. My Room, Dark Black

    • By Anonymous
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2012 with permission of the Author.

    my room, dark black
    my nightmares come back
    my past, won't leave me
    I need someone to free me

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    • Stories 1
    • Shares 545
    • Favorited 73
    • Votes 454
    • Rating 4.26
    Featured Shared Story

    I can relate to this poem a lot. My best friend killed himself last year in December, and I regret not being a better friend because I feel like I could have saved him if I had tried hard...

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  10. 8. The Window

    • By Jake Tipton
    • Published by Family Friend Poems January 2009 with permission of the Author.

    I look out the window and what do I see?
    Except for a better version of me?
    He did the right where I did the wrong
    So, I'm the one that wrote this song

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    • Stories 31
    • Shares 134
    • Favorited 9
    • Votes 929
    • Rating 4.59
    Featured Shared Story

    My dad left me all alone and I never see him at all. People say that divorce is hard and they have no possible idea.

  11. 9. If I Could Go Back

    • By Shianne
    • Published by Family Friend Poems January 2017 with permission of the Author.

    For every time that I broke down
    There was a fake smile to cover the frown
    I hid behind lies when things got tough
    Forced myself to think it was enough

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    • Stories 0
    • Shares 3218
    • Favorited 187
    • Votes 502
    • Rating 4.54
  12. 10. Another Day

    • By Kirsty Kennedy
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2019 with permission of the Author.

    Life gets very busy.
    Things get in the way.
    Do I have time to visit?
    I'll go another day.

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    • Stories 4
    • Shares 831
    • Favorited 18
    • Votes 145
    • Rating 4.53
    Featured Shared Story

    I turned 67 this year and have been searching for old friends online. I went to college in a city 1500 miles away. It was probably the best time of my life. I have now looked for four friends...

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  13. 11. Regret

    • By Moira Thompson
    • Published by Family Friend Poems May 2012 with permission of the Author.

    You told me that you loved me
    And would never break my heart
    You said that it was fun
    That it wouldn't hurt.

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    • Stories 2
    • Shares 290
    • Favorited 13
    • Votes 328
    • Rating 4.51
    Featured Shared Story

    I was raped, and he took my v-card. I was never the same. It broke me, and I'm still trying to repair.

  14. 12. Regrets In Growing Old

    The hardest part of getting old,
    Is dealing with regrets,
    Accepting there's no going back.
    One chance is all I get.

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    • Stories 1
    • Shares 825
    • Favorited 51
    • Votes 150
    • Rating 4.44
    Featured Shared Story

    I'm alone too, and it's mostly my own fault. I hate it, but it's trust. Grasping for youth at 54 is not how it should be.

  15. 13. When Time Runs Out

    • By Alice Wyndham
    • Published by Family Friend Poems June 2011 with permission of the Author.

    When time runs out and your heart needs to say so much more
    But the heart that should hear it is gone now forever
    And you are left with a raw nagging sore,

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    • Stories 2
    • Shares 537
    • Favorited 50
    • Votes 348
    • Rating 4.38
    Featured Shared Story

    I lost my daughter my first born child just 10 days ago. To an addiction she tried so long to fight she hated what it did to her, in the end the demon prevailed and she died from an overdose....

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  16. 14. Death, My Loyal Friend

    • By Emilee C. Wells
    • Published by Family Friend Poems February 2016 with permission of the Author.

    When I was born, I was dying for warmth,
    And as I grew, I was dying again.
    Dying for affection, for love.
    I was dying simply for a friend.

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    • Stories 1
    • Shares 721
    • Favorited 47
    • Votes 222
    • Rating 4.33
    Featured Shared Story

    I like how this poem perfectly depicts how life is and how everyone is constantly wanting more and never truly happy with what they have. Social media has taken over the life of many and no...

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  17. 15. Stuck In The Past

    • By Remaining Anonymous
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2008 with permission of the Author.

    Old memories, old actions, old regrets,
    It seems someone never forgets,
    They seem to return over and over again,
    When will they disappear,

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    • Stories 0
    • Shares 337
    • Favorited 57
    • Votes 180
    • Rating 4.27
  18. 16. Choices

    • By Rueth
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2009 with permission of the Author.

    Why did I decide to change the course of my life?
    I was impatient and naive that I let people take advantage of me.
    My life has turned up side down, and now it is crashing down.
    I thought I could find love and hold it, blindly I went for it

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    • Stories 4
    • Shares 738
    • Favorited 97
    • Votes 527
    • Rating 4.23
    Featured Shared Story

    This was the poem I needed to read! I am currently in a similar state. I cheated on my boyfriend (who I was with for 3 years) with my close guy friend. Figured he only enjoyed my company...

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  19. 17. Regret And Pain

    • By Nikita
    • Published by Family Friend Poems September 2011 with permission of the Author.

    Here I am,
    Stumbling down the street
    The rain's pouring down
    I'm staring at my feet

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    • Stories 3
    • Shares 631
    • Favorited 59
    • Votes 381
    • Rating 4.23
    Featured Shared Story

    Hi, I'm sorry about your pain. I know how you feel. I have done what you have done. I have cut myself so much, but I did it to get attention from people. I never had friends when I was...

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  20. 18. Who Do You Do?

    • By Katrina
    • Published by Family Friend Poems August 2009 with permission of the Author.

    I'm crying my eyes out,
    But no one can see,
    Because it's deep,
    Deep inside of me.

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    • Stories 0
    • Shares 308
    • Favorited 71
    • Votes 361
    • Rating 4.21
  21. 19. Grief

    • By Candace L. Mahoney
    • Published by Family Friend Poems April 1, 2024 with permission of the Author.

    A tsunami of fire
    A wall with no gate
    Prayers unanswered
    Utterly ignored

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    • Stories 0
    • Shares 5
    • Favorited 1
    • Votes 10
    • Rating 4.20
  22. 20. Secrets

    • By Nicole
    • Published by Family Friend Poems June 2008 with permission of the Author.

    do your secrets rip and roar?
    do they tear at you with open claws?
    do your secrets dig down deep?
    do the make you want to speak?

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    • Stories 0
    • Shares 317
    • Favorited 34
    • Votes 203
    • Rating 4.17

1 - 20 of 22

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