THE UNIVERSE PRACTISES STAND-UP WITH OUR LIVES
- Jun 21
- 1 min read
By FirebirdRises
Life handed me a script once
said, don’t worry,
the tragedy comes with a laugh track.
Apparently the timing matters.
You slip on hope,
fall flat on ambition,
knock your teeth on the pavement of maybe tomorrow,
and somewhere a polite audience applauds,
because suffering, apparently,
tests well with focus groups.
I tried optimism for a while.
It came in a bottle
with the instructions rubbed off.
Side effects included
unpaid overtime,
trusting people,
and believing everything happens for a reason.
The reason, I discovered,
is mostly administrative.
Forms in triplicate.
Grief stamped APPROVED.
Dreams returned to sender.
The universe doesn’t hate you
that would be personal.
It simply keeps the lights on
while you trip over the furniture
of your own expectations.
So I bow anyway.
If existence insists
on being a punchline,
the least I can do
is deliver it first.