No Airs

How do you console someone who lost their dream - a loved one is easier to lose.

How would you approach the situation, how would you fit in their shoes?

Would you share a tear,

Push them further from fear,

Or remind them that real friends are always near?

Would you sell them a cruise ship of fantasies, hoping their cares float away?

Could you comprehend the silence when you can't find words to say?

Will you be close by when a laugh finally falls from their frown?

Or will reality make their lofty ambitions crumble to the ground?

Will you help them rededicate themselves?...Nose to the grindstone.

Will their reaction to the loss make you believe enough to make their dream your own?

Would you put on airs and pretend or care, or

Could you help them breath with no air?



Backstory: I wrote this piece while riding the coaster encouraged by a fellowship announcement that was missing my name. The first words out of my mother's mouth were "You are a fellow, you just didn't get their prize money." She then invited me to sit closer to the grindstone, so move my stool I did.

And yes, that was meant as a double entendre: think an apprentice's seat & getting rid of waste.