Seeds of Wisdom

I wrote this poem 28 years ago when I was 28 years old after a conversation with an 82 year old man I met at a MacDonald's.

I'm on my way to eighty five
And as I sit here starring at the sky
I think about the things that could have been

I think about the girls I've dated
And I think about the people I've hated
And I think with both, it was only I, who paid

My mind festers with things I should have said
To so many people who are all now dead
Regrets are a heavy price to pay

If I had my life to live again
I would live for pleasure and forget the pain
I wouldn't say anything, if I had nothing nice to say

I would walk when I used to run
I would relax when the day was done
I would stop and smell the roses like I never did

You need not suffer if you contemplate
If you immerse yourself in love, not hate
and learn from the mistakes that other people make

I wish I'd known these things when I was young and brave
but wisdom comes on my way to the grave
Alas these seeds of wisdom I leave for you.