The Past’s Regret
- May 7
- 2 min read
A cinematic poem inspired by Tulsa King exploring regret,
loyalty, masculinity, redemption and the weight of the past.
Wherever you go,
Your sins still show.
No future appears
Without yesterday near.
And for men like you,
No place stays untouched,
No innocent world
Can ever mean much.
No matter where
Your restless soul runs,
You always become
The man you once shunned.
Yet somehow remain
Condemned to stay
Inside the shadow
Of who you became.
Because the past never sleeps.
It follows. It stays.
It breathes through the silence
Of all your mistakes.
You try to escape
The weight of before,
Yet regret cuts deeper
Than wounds ever wore.
For the ones that you loved,
You were not there.
Now distance lives quietly
Inside every stare.
And your seemingly unbreakable heart
Still aches in the dark.
Your values stay clear,
Yet loyalty breaks.
The world leaves you behind
The moment it shakes.
And you must become
Who you once used to be —
A man you escaped from,
Yet never left free.
How do we outrun
What no longer exists,
Yet still walks beside us
Through memory’s mist?
Time keeps moving.
The years disappear.
Still old ghosts whisper
Too close to the ear.
And what do we do
To hold onto love
When life steals moments
Before they become enough?
Deep in your soul
One truth still remains:
The heart always searches
Beyond all the pain.
For love.
Love in all forms.
Beyond walls of steel and pride
Beyond hearts gone cold
Love never turns old
Behind steel and pride,
Behind old memories,
Behind thoughts from the past
Wrapped around your heart
Like chains that never leave —
Your soul still searches
For people who stay.
For eyes you can trust
Without words to explain.
For allies.
For brothers.
For something that lasts.
Because beneath every hardened man
Still lives a heart
Trying to protect
What remains of the past.
And maybe that’s the tragedy:
No matter how far
We run from yesterday,
A part of us always remains
Along the way.