Read This Sad Poem Backwards For A Lovely Surprise

Back in the day, everyone was convinced that if you played rock albums backwards you would hear Satanic messages, and then a bunch of idiots freaked out because "Teh Beatles is subliminally trying to corrupt teh youths!" Nowadays stupid people reserve their paranoia for other things — like whether the president is a secret Muslim — but at least we've gotten better at the whole backwards message thing. Take, for example, this depressing poem with a hidden message about our perspective on life. Spotted by Ronnie Joice in a London bar — kudos, by the way, London, on being so damn classy your bars have poems in them — this poem appears at first glance to be of the same depressing ilk as much of the bummed out poetry I angstily wrote in high school while smoking cloves and wearing black. It reads...

Today was the absolute worst day everAnd don't try to convince me thatThere's something good in every dayBecause, when you take a closer look,This world is a pretty evil place.Even ifSome goodness does shine through once in a whileSatisfaction and happiness don't last.And it's not true thatIt's all in the mind and heartBecauseTrue happiness can be attainedOnly if one's surroundings are goodIt's not true that good existsI'm sure you can agree thatThe realityCreatesMy attitudeIt's all beyond my controlAnd you'll never in a million years hear me say Today was a very good day

But there's one more line...

Now read from bottom to top

Which would go something like this...

Today was a very good dayAnd you'll never in a million years hear me sayIt's all beyond my control.My attitudeCreatesThe realityI'm sure you can agree thatIt's not true that good existsOnly if one's surroundings are goodTrue happiness can be attainedBecauseIt's all in the mind and heartAnd it's not true thatSatisfaction and happiness don't last.Some goodness does shine through once in a whileEven ifThis world is a pretty evil place.Because, when you take a closer look,There's something good in every dayAnd don't try to convince me thatToday was the absolute worst day ever

This is the M. Night Shyamalan of poetry! Depressed, bitter resignation becomes hopeful optimism. What a twist!

I think one would be totally justified in thinking the piece a tad maudlin, but you've at the very least got to admit it's quite clever. I'm also impressed by the structure, because it not only has completely different, coherent meanings both ways, but its traditional, top to bottom reading renders the bottom to top interpretation more meaningful. It's extra impressive when you discover that the poem was allegedly written by a New York City teenager named Chanie Gorkin. Well done, young lady! Keep writing!

Images: Getty; Giphy