YWP

Woven from feelings of happiness and friendship, short-lived as those feelings may be.

Woven from a cat’s meow and a dog’s tail wag.

Woven from ideals of love and compassion.

Woven from goodness itself.

I saw a photo of myself from freshman year

I didn’t love how I looked, cringed at it—a knee-jerk reaction to my ugly, green shoelaces—but not necessarily just because of my physical appearance

When you are old

Your skin will become like paper,

And your bones will be like the wooden ribs

Of a lantern

So that the world will see the light in your chest.

But I don't need to wait

Things sound different at midnight, 

the dark is so much lighter, 

 the noises so much louder. 

Every creak causes a jump. 

We didn't know the guy 

in the truck 

who's that guy? 

my sister asked, 

and I wondered if city people 

expected to know everyone 

they saw around town. 

Love 

Is like light 

Is like a rose 

Growing from the darkened depths 

Of a blackened bramble 

Climbing through the soil