The Negotiation

I write stories worse than mine

Worse than two blue check mark signs

Worse than time differences

Or communication preferences

I write stories that highlight our privilege

Stories that undermine the little things in life

And accentuates those we take for granted

Freedom, opportunity, and bright prospects

Our journey won’t be easy

There are applications to submit

Rejection letters to file

And problems to admit  

Our baggage weighs nothing

Compared to being held captive

Being beheaded

Being raped

And yet, I still feel it

Feel my heart dropping

With disappointment

And now guilt

My brain rationalizes the pain

Scores it against increasingly horrifying headlines

Negotiating its value, its worth and its legitimacy

Questioning its validity

Terror continues to recruit

Perception aims and shoots

My decisions will go unused

Leaving my conscience partly bruised

Yet, slowly, my own scars will heal

As I decide to adopt ignorance

To cast away my worries

And abandon my expectations 

Nevertheless, the negotiation forges on

Between my ego and the universe’s

Battling beyond dawn

Until one of our fate’s are reversed