Life Waiting to Happen
The life that could have been
keeps rendering in the back of my mind—too vivid,
too unresolved,
too human
to fit inside
what they call success.I glimpse it briefly.
It’s alive,
stationed just outside
what I learned to call real.The life that could have been
doesn’t hurt loudly.It hovers nearby,
waiting for recognition
I can never give.My body remembers
what this world never approved,
what this system never certified.I mourn it quietly,
the version of myself,
the life that feels heavier
containing mistakes
that would have slowed things down.Those turning points
didn’t look dramatic then.I was rewarded
for those choices—
for those quiet wings of a butterfly
shaping the weather
for centuries to come.I still am.
Rewarded.
©2026 Sam Oldman
WHAT IS HUSH HALO?
Hush Halo is a dystopian sci-fi poetry collection by Sam Oldman, set in a near-future shaped by technology, silence, and optimized perfection. Each poem is paired with a unique soundscape created by poet, in Suno. Learn more in Square One.
Context: After the Great Optimization, a privileged group integrated into the system, believing they had now perfected themselves.
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It’s very beautiful I think we all wonder about the path we take and second guess ourselves from time to time 🫶🏼