Better for me to simply say
my very favorite color's gray.
Instead, I tried to explain
how it's the color of winter and wonder and rain.

And how can I complain?
Sparrows wake me every day
and every night I hear the trains
pulling, pulling, pull away.

I hear the thunder slowly fade.
I grew up in a leafless shade.
So many things I try to say;
I throw my words, they ricochet.

Don't tell me I put up a good fight. 
I lost.  Nothing will change that.
Don't tell me I did well.
I didn't.  I failed you, myself, and everyone else.
Don't tell me everything is okay.
Do you think I'm blind?  I know the world isn't perfect.
Don't tell me everything will be fine.
Not everyone gets a happy ending.
I don't want lies, even nice ones.
You can pretend everything is okay.  You can smile and sing and shut your eyes to everything.
It won't fix things.
You can believe in fairytales.

*Based on a true story*

The faint glow of the moon was drowned in a blaze of light as a battered pickup truck rounded the corner of the rough dirt road. It bounced slowly over the uneven surface as it navigated the sharp turns of the valley. The driver gazed with half focus on the road ahead as it was revealed by the headlights. He fancied he could stay on the road even without the lights, he’d traveled it so many times.