The Best Undesirable World

When people insist everything
Works out for the best in the end,
You know they’re wrong—just look at things.
You don’t need Voltaire to show you.

And still, there’s a scale, or a stage
Within self-similarity,
At which, remarkably often,
Disappointment yields improvement.

Maybe the sequence of events you’d planned
Falls apart, or your first choice flees,
Or you’re shoved away from your dream,
Or your mistake is fixed in stone,

But the actual sequence soars,
Your backup ends up a winner,
Your dream is replaced by waking,
And your mistake’s a monument.

These fortunate swaps may depend
On wanting the original
Too fervently in the first place.
Bad bets raise loss to be saved from.