Too Late Poem by Rebecca Duncan

I am the woman who sits by the river
Considering molecules of hydrogen and oxygen
As they glide by.
Trying to steal back time
Stolen from me
By romantic dreams
Sophomoric idylls
And fevered choices
I might have been more careful
I might have been more sober
I might have been more attentive
To practicalities
To advice
To a proven path

But I was all jitters
And shivers
All fidgets
And backfires
All starts
And stops
A bundle of needs and desires
Desperate to love
And be loved

But I am here by the water
Too late to dwell on times past
Content to measure the days ahead
And watch god’s chemistry
Glide past me on its way
To somewhere and someone else