Navigating Solutions and Darkness

Words spill out of my palms, scattering everywhere, left behind and forgotten almost immediately. 

 "Brave."  "Strong." "Capable."

The despair of the world weighing down on me like five hundred elephants decked in gold and fury.

I remember when I would hunger for connection, lost in a sea of signals and codes I couldn't interpret, mistakenly taking words at face value that were never meant to be given a second thought. 

  I love you.

There I was again tonight Forcing laughter, faking smiles

Rather than presume to know what a human life is worth, perhaps we should simply focus on whether we're paying people enough to maintain a life of at least basic dignity and comfort.