Regret

There I was,
Standing at the gates of afterlife.
Mirrors all around me,
My reflections staring at me.
There were questions I had to answer to myself.

Why did I live the way I did?

Did I have values to fight for?
Did I have beliefs to stand by,
Did I have faith to pull me through?
Could I justify my life?

Did I willingly forgive the misled?
Did I willingly forgive myself?

Why did I make the decisions I made,
Were they for those I loved,
Or for those I feared?

Did I do anything for myself,
Or for those weaker than me?
What made me think they were weaker than me?

Was I ever open to love,
To give and to receive?
Did I let somebody love me,
Did I give somebody hope?
Could I justify my life,
If I really ever lived,
Or only just survived?

As these questions were being asked,
I couldn’t move the slightest bit,
And I had no answers.
Just one regret,
If I had only asked myself these questions,
While I was still alive .