For a long time I have regretted
my answer to the question
I wish I had answered differently
Followed intuition and said what I felt
What I knew was right
What I wanted to say
For a long time I have imagined
If I had answered differently
What would have followed
What I would have heard in answer to
What I knew was right
What I wanted to hear
For a long time I have hoped
My answer would have questioned
The life I was living and built
A future passed that would have sent me to
What I knew was right
What I wanted to be
But just today
I realized
I should not have answered differently
The question should not have been asked
I should have turned
And left it unanswered
Except by evaporating
And finding new questions to ask
Ones I know are right
Ones worthy of an answer
Some new regret beckons me now.