Worse things have happened to better people,
Is the tragic thought that comforts me during hard times.
What if I am destitute?
Millionaires have gone bankrupt.
What if I am out of love?
Some have never had the chance to love,
Never with their hearts,
Only with their eyes, bodies, and hands.
What if am sick and dying?
Some have died
So suddenly,
In accidents, wars, or plane crashes,
From strokes at home
Heart attacks in hotel rooms
Or choked to death by food,
That they could not say farewell.
And what if I shall die young?
Some have died before their birth,
In the womb.
And what if I am wretched now?
Somewhere in this giddy world
Someone is more wretched than me:
A childless old man breathing his last in an unheated room,
A child dying from a terminal disease,
A lovely woman raped by angry men,
A wife discovering her husband’s unfaithfulness,
A cyclist on the street hit by a car
And a thousand thousand more
Poor hapless wretches in this giddy world
Better people than me yet more in pain.
Worse things have happened to better people
Is the tragic thought that comforts me during hard times.
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boy with a hat 
Though it’s tragic, I’m glad you have a thought to comfort you. I am yet to find one to comfort me. This was beautiful.
The most beautiful and poignant poem I have read in a while
I tip my hat to you and blush a little.
it’s scary to think about but it’s true
“And what if I shall die young?
Some have died before their birth,
In the womb.”
Yes.
Yes, they have.
I know what you mean.
One will eventually come.
Or maybe he or she has come already and waits patiently somewhere for adoptive parents?
I think every day of you. And your attic.
I think of children in Africa. Of people without water. Of people without food, or love, or clothing. Or all three. And how wretched do I feel then. Here, so far away, and so little I can do.
If you flutter an eyelash you may produce a current that could become a wind. I will leave the window open and it will refresh me.
I flutter my eyelashes all the time — and think of you.
Worse things have happened to better people…
Comforts me too in my times of trouble…
A good and cutting poem.
Alas, is it a poem?!
What I do, is try to see the positive side of the disadvantages life brings me. And there’s always a positive side. To everything.
Alas, we last posted on the same day… Trying for greater frequency. And failing miserably.
I love your post and your writing! You are truly inspirational.
PS. What happened to Oliver