Regret is a short poem that asks a big question in just a few lines. The speaker turns to the reader and asks what they ought to regret: the person they actually are, or the person they never became. There's no answer given, and the poem seems to suggest that neither choice is easy.
The questions feel a little weary, maybe even a bit vulnerable. Regretting "who I am" means being unhappy with your own self, your habits and flaws. Regretting "what I am not" means mourning missed chances and lives you didn't live. The word "Or" sits alone on its own line, almost like a pause where the speaker is stuck between two painful options.
The mood is quiet, reflective, and unsettled. Because the poem ends on a question, it leaves you hanging, as if you're meant to stop and ask yourself the same thing. It's a simple, honest moment of self-doubt that many readers will recognize.