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I Once Sat By a Pessimist

A pessimistic point of view
Shed his coat and sat beside me,
Not knowing my name, or place, or rank
But spoke anyway as if we were friends
From long years ago; and then fell the rain
So we stayed some more, and spoke of things
Yet to come, like doom for all

I had no desire to leave the man
For he made sense of stupid things
And warned me of haste and possible failures
That were of the likelier nature

The longer we sat, the longer I thought
And stewed in the excess of an imaginative mind
Not bothering to think of anything good
For he was convincing and had a great wit

But nevertheless, our time came to go
We had chatted long hours, and the hour was late,
So he took up his coat and waved his hat
And left me sitting there with a massive headache.

Lisa Stebbins

 


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