Same old story

You've heard the story, 
why do I repeat myself?
Are you pleased or bored?

Do I love the tale,
expect something out of it,
try to improve it?

Do I need your smile,
your nod of comprehension,
to feel it joins us?

Shared reality
makes us safe and makes us warm,
staves off suspicion.

We need common illusions
to elude uncertainty,
evade enmity.

What happens to us
if my "Why it is this way"
does not match your own?

If my story tells
why I am not you, and how, 
are we rich or poor?

If our story tells
why we are not they, and why, 
must our worlds collide?

The same old story –
It's all in how we listen
to inner chatter.