A Sonnet on Worry

That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.

Chinese Proverb

. . .

O World, of my woes, you care not!

You are a world of woe with trouble fraught.

Worry’s hymn we often hum,

To the ceaseless rhythm of duty’s drum.

One thing seems beyond all doubt:

There is always something to worry about.

Worry’s grip on man is firm,

Within its clutches we dwell till terminal squirm.

Worry is but a symptom of concern,

With lessons to teach if one would learn.

I worry this poem I cannot complete,

I worry, these words and meaning, fail to meet.

Yet only by worry are we made aware,

Of things in life, worth our care!

. . .

~ Granville D. Austin