It is the same

I see them sitting there

He looks out the window

She looks down at her lap

Neither is talking

Both should

But who can start this conversation?

It is the same

They have a choice

Do they keep fighting 

Or do they quit while they're ahead

Cut their losses and throw their lines farther this time

I see him frown at the computer screen

The reports are back and he'll have to fire some more

It seems that's all he'd doing

Just doing his job

Try to forget that it's Christmas time

Try to forget what that mass email means

But he won't and he can't do this much longer

And soon he'll have to face it

It is the same

Face the choice

Does he stay or go

He knows what his emotions tells him

He knows what is the logical choice

But he is not a creature of gears and steel

I see her smile even though she wants to scream

And take it all again and again without a word

How many more interviews will end the same way

Sorry but you're not what we're looking for

Meanwhile her savings is all going towards her debt

That she made at school in order to get the job

It is a vicious cycle and she knows it

It is the same

She can print another wave and another

Resumes like leaves in the fall

Or she can pool those last few dollars

Buy the one way ticket to Rome

It's completely irrresponsable 

She knows

I see them standing there

And they feel ashamed that they had dared

To tell a joke in the car on the way to the cemetery

As if they hadn't had enough guilt yet 

For not knowing that the baby had a peanut allergy

There is nothing funny about it

It is the same

One wants to try again, he says things will get better

Even though he knows they probably won't

The other wants to give up on everything 

Even though he can think of reasons why not to

And both know that people will look

And say that Fatherhood isn't for everyone

Especially not certain people

Like them

I am here in front of a computer

And I have no person who demands my love

No person who demands my respect

No person who demands my perfection

and no person who can take my hand at a graveyard as I cry

It is the same

We are not made of gears and steel

We are flesh and tears and silences that need filling

We are decision makers that break each others hearts

And sing when we are in the shower

Or home alone

We are all differently the same

And we all must make choices

Even when they are hard

And don't make any sense

We must chose between 

What we know and feel

What we want and need

And need to want

We must chose between 

What is safe and what must be done

And in the end

We'll make our little beds of dirt

Sure some with bigger stones and more flowers

But in the end they are all just beds of dirt

And no one will remember those choices

That we agonized over and wept bitter tears for

And that is alright because they will be busy

So so busy

Agonizing over their own

We all, each sow our generation of bitter tears

And reap soft beds of loam and warm earth

It is the same