What were you thinking, Oscar Wilde?

As brilliant a wit and writer as was Wilde,

Why did he see friendship

As “far more tragic” than love?

Was he just being facetious

Or making a glass-half-empty fuss,

Simply because friendships endure

Longer than love? And there are more

Friendships than loveships?

But Mr. Wilde seems concerned

That all relationships will ultimately

End in tragedy. So why bother rating

What is worse: friendship or love?

I much prefer the words of an optimist

Like screenwriter Frank Capra,

Whose angel in “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Said, “Remember, no man is a

Failure who has friends.”

Or the hopeful Tennyson who said,

“Better to have loved and lost

than never to have loved at all.”

It’s all about trying to forge

Relationships with a spirit of hope.