The Arrows of Time and Regret

Time is an arrow
On a one-way flight from then to now,
Implacable and irreversible.

Regret is an arrow
On a one-way flight from then to now,
Also irreversible.

Two one-way tickets,
One aching wish for a return trip
And a chance to do better.

I'm not the woman I was then,
But maybe not so different after all:
Lash-scarred soul
Still too desperate to please,
Too faint-hearted to be real.

Except for the regret.
The regret is real.
It has weight,
This remorse over wounds inflicted,
Harm that can't be un-dealt
And maybe never truly forgiven.

So I sit, weighed down,
Heart cramping,
Not for myself,
But for him.
It would be so much easier to hurt for me
Than to hurt, helplessly, with him,
Recognizing myself as the impacted thorn.

But time is an arrow
On a one-way flight from then to now,
Implacable and irreversible.

Is redemption possible
For either of us?