I watch as cars pass me by,

then wait in traffic slowed by broken glass and flashing lights.

I hear anguished words woven in hearts wounded and stained.

Whether a person is benign or malicious,

sometimes we all cause those close to us pain.

I speak meaningless words that will be lost to the ages,

while others starve, and die at the hands of their brothers,

and the world turns on, as do history’s pages.

I walk beneath streetlights, or trees and stars.

There are radiant smiles lingering yet on faces I pass,

of friends, families, lovers: like fireflies in the dark.

I know that despite all the hurt the uncaring world can bring,

there is so much good; far too much to be destroyed

as long as we can still smile.