There are ten different kinds of sadness
They start out at a one with such things
As hang nails or paper cuts
Perhaps the bus was late or too crowded
Perhaps it was your hair
These are the fleeting sadnesses soon to be forgotten
Number two kinds of sadness involve the loss of something
But only temporarily
You can’t find the keys
You can’t find the remote
You don’t remember where you’ve sat your glasses
Number two kinds of sadness make you move
They make you worry slightly
But it almost always has a happy ending
In just a few moments all is resolved
We first encounter the third kind of sadness as children
When we have lost something of fleeting value
Ice cream falling off of summer cones
The favored baseball card lost in some child’s game of chance
Lightening bugs escaping your sweaty hand and the killing jar
The higher numbers of sadness
The sixes and sevens
Are for losses of greater magnitude
A limb lost in battle
A mind lost to war
A home lost to a nameless corporation
A loved one lost to a drunken driver
Things still held oh so very dear
Gone and forever
I would tell you of the numbers nine and ten kinds of sadness
But my soul can not bare such today
Not while the sun still shines
In truth, I am afraid
I’m afraid your hearts would break open wide
I’m afraid you would never forgive
