03/22/2026
This has always been a favorite poem of mine. Published in 1927 by American Max Ehrmann, I once thought he wrote it as a portent from watching the shifting sands at that time of dictatorship and autocracy in Europe. Turns out he may have simply written it for his daughter, a love lesson on values and living in contentment.
It didn’t gain in popularity until the 1970s long after Ehrmann was dead. A spoken “song” by Les Crane won a Grammy in 1971, at a time of deep divide and unrest. It reached #8 on the Billboard charts.
Given our current climate, not only in the US but abroad as well, I hope the poem, Desiderata, makes a comeback and gives people solace and compass.
