Maybe
Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash
The word maybe is like a drug
To me
Hope and despair all rolled into one.
How can such a simple word cause so much emotion?
When I hear
Maybe
I know that something good might happen,
Something that I’ve been wanting.
Will he call me? Maybe.
If I play this lottery ticket, will I win? Maybe.
Will you be at the party? Maybe.
If I ask for a raise, will I get it? Maybe.
Hope lingers on until I realize that
Maybe
Was just that
Maybe.
He didn’t call
I didn’t win the lottery
You weren’t at the party
The raise never happened
Maybe is a very thin
dangerous line between hope and disappointment.
However,
It is a word so easily thrown around that
Maybe
You aren’t even aware how often you say it.
— Nicole Barden 4/24/2021
Originally published in Illumination on Medium