Chasing After Glitter and Gloss

I shuffle through the rubble that passes for news today each scandalous headline more frightening than the one that came before it. Despair is never far away. Hope is a lost cause. Days have become intolerable hours of fear and pain, ending frequently in tragic loss.

Perhaps it is my fault, for I did go chasing after glitter and gloss. But parents, teachers and community leaders said it could be mine if I was willing to carry the cross.

I admit I made mistakes. I took wrong turns, followed bad advice. I did the hard work for lousy pay. I sacrificed my soul for the company goal, I did my best to stay out of my own way, though at times when defeat greeted me at the end of a day, I did through chemicals keep despair at bay. And I fell and did not whimper, but quickly got back up, dusted myself off and forged ahead, even when at times my feet felt as if they were dragging lead.

But now I must shed this cross, for the glitter I sought has lost its gloss. I’ve gotten older and am much wiser, and as I suspected all along it was all a lie, a sweet lullaby sung by the ruling party to keep me from waking and realizing their dirty scheme

That there never was an American dream.