It Is Better To Have Lived Than Not Lived At All Poem by Reginald Reid

IT IS BETTER TO HAVE LIVED
It is better to have lived than not have lived
For if I had never been I would not have ever seen
The wonders of man and world, or tasted all that unfurled
Nor known the wisdom and the learning for which the wise are yearning.

How deeply would I regret the lost experiences of love and yet
There could have been some soul to me unseen who loved me keen
Or in life's reality I could know the love that was for me
And joined in procreation of the next born generation

In this life we wrongly feel alone or crowded in some home
But can't avoid the interdependence pervading our existence
That symbiosis that clings in life's flow like some thrombosis
Drawing all together surmounting all kinds of weather

Far better is a life despite the chance of strife
As opportunity allows the taking of those vows
Which bind one to another or to some task or other
That in its very being is more than all are seeing.

What boundless hidden meanings in all acts are streaming
When each soul gives of its best to all the rest
So growing knowledge forth can burst increasing a life's worth
And rising quality in health extends our lives with stealth.
It is better to have lived than not have lived.