Who wrote "Comes the Dawn"???

It is an ongoing dispute.

I had first credited this poem it to Veronica Shofftall. I received an e-mail from someone telling me that Veronica wrote it. There have been several versions of this poem. Usually it is attributed to "Unknown" because there is no official copyright owned by anyone.

Before you write to tell me that this poem was written by Veronica Shofftall, please read an e-mail that I got from Judith Evans in September of 2004. (By the way, her e-mail address is now invalid) Pay close attention to the wording and spelling. Would a learned person and fluid poet say "there own spin"?

"Just thought you'd like to know, Comes the Dawn (sometimes called "After a While", or "You Learn") was written by ME a loooong time ago. decades and decades! You see it in many forms, usually attributed to someone, often a "Veronica Shofftall" and supposedly even copyrighted by her. (She even included it in a self
e-published collection called "Mirrors and Other Insults", which she then had to remove from the internet because. like, it's not written by her!) There are several "renditions". No doubt, someone picked it up and wanted to put there own spin on it. Odd. This is probably one of the most plagiarized poems in the world! And I didn't make a DIME off it!
This is the real rendition (as you can see, it actually has the phrase "comes the dawn" which VS didn't bother to include in her spin):
I was young and stupid. I let it get out in the public sector and kick myself in the behind every time I see it, or a rewritten version of it, being claimed by this person, that person or attributed to "Author Unknown". I don't know who Veronica Shofftall is (or any of the other people that may lay claim to it) but I have gotten tired of seeing her name (or theirs) all over my work. She needs to go write her own poem.

Not that it makes any difference now. I just wanted to let you know, for the record, because it was on your site.

Judith B. Evans

Now, before you believe that Judith Evans wrote it, read my reply below, and the information
I recently received from a man named Lorenzo.

Judith,
You and I corresponded about this a year ago. Someone recently wrote to me and told me the poem was written by Veronica, and I quoted your e-mail to her. And I got to thinking, that if you wrote it a looooong time ago, you would not use such words like "like" as I've highlighted in your e-mail below. That phrase sounds like a California valley girl of the 90's. How old are you, anyway? It sounds like it was written by a mature, learned person. That phrase and your entire e-mail (and forgive me for saying this) almost, but doesn't quite sound like a learned person wrote such a moving poem. But, then, who is to know or judge? Not I.
If you did write it, know that it has touched millions of hearts and meant a great deal to most people reading it, and rewards aren't always monetary. If you wrote it, just look at what you've written and what it has meant to so many people. Realize how it has touched their hearts. People usually get rewarded for helping others in untold ways. Karma does exist in our world. Just wanted you to know this if you did, indeed write it. If you wrote it, shame on Veronica. If she wrote it, shame on you. There are, indeed, kooks in the world who need attention. Me, I would rather not ever be noticed than to claim I wrote something that I didn't.

Most recently I got an e-mail from a man named Lorenzo saying that Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986), who was an Argentine writer and considered one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century, wrote a poem titled "Y Uno Aprende" which he says was translated by the others who claim it. On August 30, 2007, I got another e-mail saying Borges wrote it.

You can read a huge argument over who wrote it on
http://www.emule.com/2poetry/phorum/read.php?4,27156,40760
Personally, when I find that more than one person claims authorship,
I know that one of them is lying, so I don't credit anyone. It amazes me that people can be such liars.

The mystery deepens. Since there is no proof, I say the author is Unknown and Unproven.

Actually, the only thing that matters is that the poem has been meaningful to hundreds, if not thousands,
of people, and that should be enough credit for the real author.
Moral: If you write something prophetic, get it copyrighted.