The Camera is On

The tape is running
Twenty-four hours a day
Watching people
Fight
Argue
Cheat and
Lie

It's "reality TV"
They say
But don't these people
See the cameras?
Do they act differently
Because producers are eyeing every move?
Are they worse than they portray?
Is this all an act?

It's easy to forget
Easy to act in ways that, if we were watching,
We would horrify ourselves.
Words we say in anger
Shoves, sneers, insults, gossip
Petty problems we blow up
Into mountains

But we have our own cameras
The eyes of others
Our family
Our children
The mirror
Who do we want to see when we play that tape over?
A beast?
A sponge?
An emotional wreck?

That is the choice:
Live with purpose
Or waffle and whine?
Use time
Or waste it?
Add to the lives of others
Or create only pain?

You may think no one's watching,
But your portrait is created step by step
Your scars formed choice by choice
And the final picture is all your own.

Choose
So that you don't regret.