Parallel Poem by Eric Niehoff

What if there was an alternate world
Representing every eventuality of every major decision?
How would your life be different?
And would other difficulties have arisen?

We make choices based on perspective at the moment,
Rarely looking ahead several moves to see the outcome.
When we do look ahead to the future,
Our scope is limited by our emotional spectrum.

It’s impossible to change the past
But the biggest decision becomes hold on or let go.
What is wanted and what is attainable
Can keep a person in constant limbo.

If only we could see these other worlds,
So that our decisions were well informed.
It might not solve all of our problems,
And how would our lives be transformed?

I sit here wondering if I made a mistake
And if there was any way it could have been avoided.
The bad were not the only consequences
Of the good I would have been cheated.

So instead of wallowing in pity
Over the things that have occurred,
I now focus on the good in life
And walk away from the absurd.