How do we talk about the things that matter?
Fear that creeps in, armed with a million slights
The sense of an ending, before life has begun,
Loneliness, layered in blankets
Against the chill of a broken intimacy?

How do we talk about emptiness
When life has never been so good?
When most dreams lie comfortably ticked
And yet, we wonder if we could have been
Differently ambitious?

How do we talk about the sense
Of nothing being up to scratch,
When a traffic jam can bring on rage
And another’s celebration
Drum up outrage?

They say we are on permanent alert
Stunned by the glare of projected lives.
But it may be simpler than that:
We have forgotten the power
Of silence and solitude,
The redemption of offering
Ourselves a second chance.