Then I heard other people

I built an opinion
from TV reports
while sitting on a comfortable couch,
throwing out clever lines
triggered by nothing more
than a raised eyebrow.

Then I heard other people
repeating the same rehearsed phrases,
and it hit me,
those thoughts weren’t mine.
It hurt.

So I went quiet
and started rebuilding.

I learned an opinion
is never finished,
and touching it
is always painful,
especially on mornings
like this one,
reading the brutal map
of incarceration in Brazil,
letting the discomfort
do its work.