A World Like That

A WORLD LIKE THAT
By: Amanda Chong

Imagine.
What if every word I said

Wasn’t ​really​ my word?
If every promise I made

Wasn’t r​ eally​ my promise.
If every idea I shared,

Wasn’t r​ eally​ my idea.

Would you trust me?
Could you trust me?

Would you believe me?
Could you believe me?

But what if it wasn’t ​every​ time?
What if it was only s​ ome​times?
Would it make a difference?

I claim, “it is different this time. I swear!”
But is this a promise I made
Or a promise that isn’t mine?

It’s hard to tell
I know.
But imagine.
If everyone made promises that weren’t theirs,

Said words that weren’t their words,
Shared ideas that weren’t their ideas,

If no one could trust anyone,
What kind of world would this be?

If care, support, and understanding were just words I said that
weren’t mine,

Would it mean anything?
If laws and contracts were empty promises made by both
parties,

Would it mean anything?

If causes and movements were fueled by ideas that belonged to
someone else and not shared by the participants of the
movements,

Would it mean anything?

A world with no trust is hard to imagine.
A world where there is no real “you” because you are not
responsible or accountable for anything you say.
A world where there is no real “me” because I don’t have to
mean anything I say or share my own ideas

Imagine.
We can’t live in a world like that
So don’t make it a world like that.