Hindsight is An Uneasy Thing

A friend of mine recently admitted that much
when he attempted, and failed,
to start to write his life story.

He wrote his first draft,
of a just a few of the facts
and so hated what he wrote
that first he hid it from himself
then he burnt the paper
as if that would destroy the past,

and then he told me after.

What he wrote down
must have been very unhappy
for it to trouble him so;
he was always such a cheery soul.

Amend that title;

hindsight is an uneasy thing
for an optimist to contemplate

when their optimism
is built on ignoring
everything they have lived through.