Background Noise

All across the world, there are people
who achieve some fame, for whatever
reasons, in their lives. And every single
one of those people has friends who are
stupefied at the glory their old
acquaintance has attained. If you
listen closely, you can almost hear them
in the background of your favorite songs,
your most loved movies, your most watched
TV shows. "Little Freedy?" they say,
"I remember he was like a toothpick his
whole life. And now he's a star? Go
figure." Or, "Maia made it, huh? Slacker.
What about me?" Or, "Sam is spoken of in
the same breath with my most favorite
artists. How can this have come to be?
Is there justice in this world or am I
hoping for a little too much?" These voices
are the background noise which most affects
our psyches. The soured dreams, the faces
missing from the stories, the lives we
know are there but which we can't see.
When Maybeline makes her once-in-a-
blue-moon appearance on the TV screen,
just remember that no one of us has not
known a solitariness that doubled us over,
no one has not walked past the ruins of
his childhood dreams, no one has not
hoped for something more grandiose than
just this paltry life. If you listen for
the background you can almost hear your
own hopes and dreams still running free.

(2008)