The Play

When I was sixteen,

My class read a translation

Of Oedipus Rex.

I was taken by

The concluding sentiment,

“Count no man lucky

Until he’s dead.” In English,

I saw two ways to read that:

“Life is full of twists and turns,

So it’s not safe to rate one

Before it ends,” or, “Life’s hell;

The only luck’s to be dead.”

I preferred the first way, but

I was taken by the play.