Rich Mansfield's "None of these" is a love poem built around regret. The speaker lists everything he wanted to be for someone: the sun and moon of her day, the warmth of the afternoon, a cool breeze, the smile she wakes to, the hug when she walks away. Each wish is tender and a little grand, as if he wanted to be part of the very world she lives in. But the refrain keeps cutting in: "none of these."
The final stanza makes the wish more personal and more painful. He wanted to be her husband and share every night with her, and he says plainly that "now that will never be." The poem suggests a relationship that has ended, or never happened at all, though it doesn't say which.
The mood is sad and quiet. The repeated line works like a heavy sigh, and the simple rhymes and plain words make the grief feel sincere and unguarded. It reads like someone admitting a loss out loud, with no attempt to dress it up.