Epidemic

What good is a teddy bear upon a shelf,
A pancake without syrup?
Or a life vest without air?
Last night I was drowning in despair,
And all I could think-
Was how I didn’t have a spoon.

I used to say that life was like a pen without ink…
I could just throw it out and try a new one.
But someone once told me, “it doesn’t work like that.
You must take your shovel and pale
And fill it with all the things that life has to offer.”

I feel like a liar.
The greatest liar the world has ever seen.
I choke back my tears almost every night.
I hold them in until I can breathe again---
Until the burning behind my eyes subsides---
Until I can swallow down the guilt inside---

Rape, Aids, Poverty, Hatred, War, Hunger, Pollution, Depression
Overpopulation, Extinction, Obesity, Illiteracy, Discrimination…
The World is Sadness…
And there is nothing I can do to end this epidemic
But offer up my simple pale and shovel…