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If I share another burdens, I forget about my own;

            And in speaking words of comfort, Oft I find my troubles flown.

I can double all the blessings that God sends me every day

            If I share them with the comrades that I meet along the way.

Last eve I walked a certain street, And met such gloomy folks.

I made great haste to pass them by, And neither smiled nor spoke.

            The giant elms drooped sullenly, The way sun was dim;

I met a friend, and said:  “I hope I’ve seen the last of him.”

Today I walked that selfsame street, And loved the folks I met.

            If business had not made me leave I’d be there talking yet.

Of course, I’ve solved the mystery, ‘‘Tis very plain to see:

            The day I met the gloomy folks, The gloom was inside me. - Shiela O’Neill

Holmes Road Herald, July, 20, 1977