All of them were unique,

but something tragic

happened to them

along the way.

I encountered a beautiful woman,

but what should’ve been beauty

was soured. I found her on the trail

Spoiled.

She was walking her dog.

Her clothes were in the latest fashion

Her figure fine

She wore designer jeans.

The other, had on running shorts.

I saw her legs, first

There was something wrong with her too.

She looked, like she had something unpleasant under her nose.

A fat one, appeared sad.

I was reading a book and walking down the trail—bored, of the psychedelic subject matter.

Rarely, do I find doors to walk through, that take me to a place that’s interesting.

People will do it

but you have to find the right people.

I wonder

what it’s like

to forget the problems of the day?

Maybe, you become bored like me

or the jolly man who stacks produce in the grocery store.

He says “Hi” to everybody.

People go through their days

with simple strategies…

like,

“I’ll say ‘hi’ to everybody.”

or,

“Today, I’m going to think positive thoughts.”

It’s drawn-out desperation.

When nothing is right

all of those incantations

are empty.

There is never enough stimulation, so people reach for anything

to help themselves

forget themselves.

They can’t stop thinking

of themselves

because that’s all they want to think about

like a catchy song

sung

once or twice

that goes around and around

What is the point of this poem?

Basically, to say

People are sad

most of the time

Neutral

and then sad.

They focus on themselves

to get better.

They take drugs

to feel better, but they never get happy.

To lose themselves

in the world outside

themselves

is the secret.

It’s the secret of laughter.

All the feelings we want to feel

we can get

by giving them

to others.