A dollar given:
Life-giving food
Or a swindler’s gain.
A dollar withheld:
Continued deprivation
Or a swindler’s irritation.
A vaccination given:
Life-saving protection
Or autism-inducing lie.
A vaccination withheld:
Life-less with others
Or perception’s pride.
A moment’s thought given
To both sides, both results
A possible change.
A moment’s thought withheld
From one side, one result
A gambler’s risk of pain.
Fame does not make a star
But a hollow likeness
Without shine
A true star makes fame
An effect of light inside
Times’s footsteps
In an inexorable march with
Counterfeit quiet
Time’s heartbeat
One and the same:
Catcher and caught
One big happy family
Of false smiles and lies,
Claiming to love
Those they truly despise,
Fooling the children
Until they grow wise:
A world they couldn’t see
With their rose-colored eyes.
Can you bear the pain?
Another step, another breath,
Another moment, another day?
Can you force your lungs to move?
In and out. Again. Again.
Though your heart can no longer cry
Though you long for nothing but end.
Can you fight the lies inside?
That quiet, reasonable voice
That echoes through the numbness
The panic, the weight, the pain.
Though exhaustion weighs your limbs
Though despair clouds your brain
Can you endure long enough?
For the numbness to fade
For the weight to lighten
For circumstances to improve
Can you force your way through?
Day to day, breath to breath,
Moment to moment, step by step,
Until you can see again.
See the kindness and caring
See friendships and love
See a purpose for each breath
See potential in yourself
See a future better than death.
