My brother sent me this poem a couple of days ago and it reduced me to tears. Unfortunately, over the years, my brother has not had a particularly good time of things and is prone to bouts of severe depression. He didn’t take my diagnosis very well either - for all sorts of reasons - and we, as a family, have not seen him since the day I told the family I had BC - over a year ago - and he and I barely exchange emails. When, in a throw-away comment, however, I mentioned in my latest email to him that I was struggling with one thing and another, he sent me this poem more or less immediatly. It was such a relief to hear from him - I really don’t hear from him very often at all - and when I do it is generally very brief and doesn’t say anything at all - but through this poem he was able to speak to me in a way that we very rarely do and made me feel so much better, however upset I was, too. And I wanted to share it:
"When things go wrong, as they sometimes will
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won, had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit"
Don’t get me wrong - I don’t subscribe to the British approach of ‘stiff-upper lip’ and I know that choosing to quit is really very liberating - but it touched a nerve and I thought it might touch someone else too.
Naz