Better it would be for me
And better it would have been
Had I not been born, not grown
Not been brought into the world
Not had to come to this earth
Not been suckled for the world

If I'd died a three-night-old
Been lost in my swaddling hand
I'd have needed but a span of doth
A span more of wood,
But a cubit of goof earth
Two words from the priest
Three verses from the cantor
One clang from the bell

• Against Widows
• Better Unborn
• Cares
• Elegy
• My Kantele
• On Rich & Poor
• Song of The Troubled One
• The Orphan
• Weeper on The Shore