Regret Much?

You don’t say their name out loud

Like it might explain itself

You talk slower now somehow

Like you’re choosing words for help

I notice what you traded for

I don’t need it spelled out clear

Some choices only make sense

When fear’s the one steering

I could ask what you were thinking

But we both know that reply

So I let the question rot

Behind my clenched, polite smile

I see the regret settling in

Like it finally learned your face

I won’t circle it or celebrate

What time’s already erased

Don’t confuse my self-control

For saying that you were right

You didn’t level up — you picked down

And I’m trying not to rub it in tonight

They look impressed by simple things

You used to laugh at with me

You outgrew depth, not me

That’s the part you won’t say clean

I stayed difficult, stayed sharp

You chose easy, young, and impressed

That’s not love — that’s escape

Dressed up as less

I could line it up in numbers

I could show you what you lost

But regret’s already teaching you

At a higher cost

I see the regret settling in

Every time you hesitate

I won’t make a show of it

Or underline your mistake

Don’t call this maturity

Or me being “above the fight”

You didn’t level up — you picked down

And I’m biting my tongue tonight

This isn’t mercy

It’s restraint

I don’t need to win

You already changed

I acknowledge the regret

That’s all you’re getting from me

I won’t dress it up in cruelty

Or hand you clarity

You know what you replaced

You feel it every time

So I’ll stand here, say nothing

And let you rub it in yourself this time