The regrets, shoulds, ought tos
over time accrue and aggregate,
solidify and petrify, expanding,
harden.
And as they accumulate
debris sticking, adhering,
they harden hearts as well.
Minds avoid guilt, shoving it away,
and hurl it toward bit players
on the scene, sighing relief
as it adheres…then etch the scene
on psyches as a resentment replay device
getting comfort from it until the time
we make a fearless moral inventory
and turn over the mechanism
being honest with ourselves, our god
and another human being.