Don’t flog a dead horse ! a poem

Don't flog a dead horse !

Ali Rahimi, 9.2.2015

What are we doing? Where are we going?

We should cherish the graceful dictum of Edith Piaf,

A small sparrow, roaming Paris streets,

Hated by ''vanguard of truth'', loathed by ''emissaries of chastity'',

Slept with a man to pay for her daughter's funeral,

Brought up in a small brothel, fragile and innocent, BUT,

French cabarets were on fire when she sang,

Turned into a stunning diva , a universal icon,

''Non, je ne regrette rien''

I regret nothing , good or bad , mad, sad,

Fantastic or catastrophic, or fabulous or disastrous,

We are doing nothing but condemn ourselves,

Every hour, every minute, every bloody second,

Adoring the epic works of our past heroes,

And marching on and on , or creeping backward and backward,

Like useless miserable worms,

Victims of scavenging beasts, scapegoats, scapegoats,

We regret our mistakes, our follies,

Put the blame on ourselves,

Don't flog a dead horse,

Don't flog a dead horse,

Don't flog a dead horse,

I blame myself for nothing,

No guilt , no bad conscience, no shame,

Nothing to frown on, nothing to shudder at, nothing to cringe,

No emotional tremors, nor sensational seismic sensational aftershocks,

You accuse yourself? You criticize yourself?

Your mental account is full of loss , shame and sorrow,

Overwhelmed by ruefulness, despair, and distress,

Emotional response of blame, grief and self-reproach,

Your conscience is a furnace of hellish disappointment,

Like weeds, venomous snakes wriggling in the mind,

Cobwebs of self-doubt, self-corrosion have trapped you,

Like a fly weaving its own garment of agony and gloom,

Feeling unending bitterness , unfulfilled loves, broken hearts,

Failures, unaccomplished dreams, unattained goals, hopes nipped in the
bud,

Dead parents, uncared-for tears, unrealized letters, unattended smiles,
forgotten names?

Robert Frosts' '' the road not taken'' , you regret the road you have
taken?

Decisions are bugs wearing you down?

Regret nothing, grieve nothing, repent nothing,

Rush, Rush, Rush,

Don't flog a dead horse,,,,,,,,,,,,,,