overprocessed

compensating for poor exposure and blasting out the image (this, of a truck trailer)

Walked into a store this evening to pick up twine and a USB cable. End up staring at bargain bins of holiday DVDs. I don’t need these.

A mother yells at kids while carrying conversation on her mobile phone.

Every customer and employee seems unhappy. I can’t stop wondering about them.

The holiday music is interrupted by calls for more cashiers to man the checkouts.

I leave with string, a pack of gum, and forget the cable.

Perhaps this mental fog is a side effect of loss. Two folks I’d met only virtually died this past weekend. One after a battle with cancer, another unexpected.

I take pause while reading online. Condolences scroll by, yet linger—burned on to the screen and making everything more important.

It’s not enough to be reminded to live better or care more for the ones we love.

There is so much noise.