If it were offered,

A real second chance,

Would you sign on,

For a backward glance?

 

To correct your errors,

Clean up the mistakes,

To avoid the costly pitfalls,

Every one of us makes?

 

Would you go back for that kiss,

That you were too shy to get,

Or say yes this time around,

To that skinny dip at sunset?

 

Would you listen to our little ones,

Laugh more than you did,

Would you make love to your lover,

And not always be right instead?

 

What if it's true,

That when we die in the end,

We see our whole lives,

Played over again.

 

Who would you ask to leave,

Who would you let stay,

What would you want in your movie?

What would you throw away?

 

If life had a do-over button,

Which moments would you choose,

To play over and over again,

The ones you never wanted to lose?

 

Is there a person you didn't love,

Quite enough for your heart's fill?

Is there a dance with someone,

You have yet to finish still?

 

I would start over as a child,

So I could parent my baby me,

I would give her so much love,

She would be my Number One-She,

 

I would give her the parenting,

That she needed to grow with ease,

The security and comfort,

That would never, ever cease.

 

But wait! If I start over,

If I go back, erase any part,

I'd be changing what shaped me,

The scenes that have molded my heart!

 

There ARE no second chances,

Do-overs don't exist,

There's no auditions,

Not even a waiting list!

 

Life is pedal to metal,

From the womb to the soil,

And it is up to us,

Whether we soar or whether we toil!

 

My life has been hard,

Full of pain and tragedy.

But taking second chances,

Is just not for me.

 

We are all a brilliance of colors,

A kaleidoscope colored sea.

From all of our joys,

As well as our tragedies.

 

The trick is knowing,

What most of us never get,

That we are all a type of perfection,

That leaves no room for regret.

 

Copyright by Elisa Fortise Christensen 2012