Shh.
Listen closely,
You'll hear the sound of children
Screaming "Daddy, don't leave me".

Listen closely,
You'll hear mothers crying
Because they don't know how to put a roof over their babies heads
Or feed them

Listen closely,
You'll hear the gunshots of hatred
Both across the ocean
And in our own neighborhoods.

Shh.
Don't listen too closely.
For a second,
Let's choose not to hear the clock
Ticking life away,
But our hearts beating life into us.

Let's choose not to hear the sobs,
But the laughter made of inside jokes
And a little too much sugar.

And if hearing the good
without the bad
means we're being ignorant
Then maybe ignorance really is bliss.