Trade

My cupcake for your beard is a fair trade

My key for your music is also a good trade

Trading something for something else is child’s play

And yet, hearing myself say this makes my tummy boil some tea

It’s like what’s in it for me might be in it for you

And what’s unlikely can be likely

to think that we have traded off stone for iron or gold for bronze depending on the mood at play

How presumptuous be that as it may

It’s fun, trendy and secondary

We say ‘oh boy, nice try!’ Nice try.

Like we are relieved of something heavy or lightweight

At one point, maybe one of us is happy or sad for what we’ve traded

But it’s a nice try. Don’t you think?

This is how we forget our misery

This is how we confuse past for present

This is how we try not to be ourselves

when we put trade at play.

We become invincible heroes of someone else’s treasure

We become librarians of a stranger’s keepsake

And while we are at it, we transform to a much preferred person.

It’s like sharing the other’s burden

Making wordless eternal friends

By trading off our loneliness for their happiness and, our secrets for their dreams.