pre-packaged,
a script for the soul.
Words, like pebbles in a bag,
shaken, then poured,
to fit the occasion.
No emotion, no empathy,
just a predictable echo,
a hollow reflection,
of a thousand other responses.
It rolls off the tongue,
a practiced gesture,
a shield against vulnerability.
But beneath the surface,
a longing for something more,
a yearning for connection,
a genuine echo of the heart.