That Inspirational Poem Going Viral? It's by a Brooklyn Teen

'Worst Day Ever?'--a poem being shared on social media by millions--came from the mind of an area high schooler.

Chances are, many of you encountered on your social media feeds in the past couple of weeks a poem called “Worst Day Ever?” It’s gone viral, and for good reason. Moving, surprising, and deeply original in its format, the poem effectively jars us out of our all-too-human tendency to dwell on and exaggerate the negative and not see the many positives around us every day. I’ve stopped to read it several times as various friends discovered it and shared it anew on Facebook.

What I didn’t know until now was that the poem is by a 17-year-old Brooklyn teen. Chanie Gorkin is, according to published reports, a student at Beth Rivkah, a high school affiliated with the Hasidic movement Chabad. Written for a class assignment, she submitted it to a poetry contest, which published it on its website. It didn’t come to the world’s attention, however, until someone spotted it hanging on the wall of a London bar, snapped a photo, and posted it to Twitter. It quickly took over social media and has since been translated into several languages.

If you haven’t seen it, here’s “Worst Day Ever?” in full. Make sure to read the whole poem—and follow it’s closing-line instructions—before passing judgment! 

Worst Day Ever?
By Chanie Gorkin

Today was the absolute worst day ever
And don't try to convince me that
There's something good in every day
Because, when you take a closer look,
This world is a pretty evil place.
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don't last.
And it's not true that
It's all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness can be attained
Only if one's surroundings are good
It's not true that good exists
I'm sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It's all beyond my control
And you'll never in a million years hear me say
Today was a very good day