Is it really so hard to just be nice to people? 

Why is it us versus them? 

What makes "them" different? 

"Worse" 

We are all human, 

all trying to get through our day. 

Why is it conservative versus liberal?

Republicans versus Democrats?

Left versus Right?

Us versus Them?

What is so bad about people thinking different things?

What makes us different makes us special.

That is the whole point of being human.

Who really is us?

Who is them?

We are all human 

Can we not just be human together?

Some people are so sucked up into their own world.

So full of themselves that they forget how they got here in the first place.

No one human has come up with anything alone.

There was some influence or thing that happened with someone else that created the person to find that great thing.

You don't need to prove anything to anybody.

when did that become a thing?

Sure I know it is part of human nature to compare oneself to others and strive to be better. But in doing that you forget how you got to where you are in the first place.

But everyone of us has what it takes to try and get out of that mindset. And just be yourself and allowing that to be enough for you.

So please, please just be yourself. And, I say that to everyone. 

everyone 

who is reading this.

Just be who you are and let others be who they need to be. Nothing

nothing

Is wrong with that.

As  a child

she would sit alone

always watching the others

playing the day away

while she never had the confidence

                                                     to join them

When the class went on a trip

to see the most beautiful performance

she knew this is how she would escape

                                                                     herself

Finally in school, the class play came around

when she stepped on stage to audition

it finally clicked

            This is where I’m meant to be.

The spotlight shone so brightly

it warmed her face with joy

None of her classmates thought she would be able to speak like this

but when she did everyone knew

          This is who she’s meant to be.

As the years went on

she grew to love performing

dancing 

    singing

           acting

                    music

all kinds of art

But outside of the stage

she would shrink back into the corner

just herself and her stories

and watching the world play out

As she stepped into this new chapter of her life

being the introvert that she is she was nervous

College. What am I going to do?

But she did what she always did

                                        She performed

She performed like never before

Always getting exactly the part she wanted

Gliding across the stage with perfection

She graduated top of the class

and went to the 

             glittering

                shimmering

                            sparkling

Broadway

She shone like never before

The lights warmed her skin

The roar of the crowd made her smile

The performances took her to another world

                                             away from her timid self

But at home

or anywhere off stage 

she was lonely

There were no more characters to keep her company 

No more stories to lift her up

Until one day

               she spoke up

and shared about her loneliness

No one had really heard her speak before

so no one really listened

except for one

One who was also lonely

Another introverted performer

escaping the outside world

that they could not control

So the other lonely performer pushed through the fear

              and spoke to her

She listened with empathy

about how he too felt trapped

They spoke whenever they could

Laughing

       Crying

           Dancing 

                    Singing

                           Performing

Together

They told each other everything

And eventually

they fell in love

And they realized

That the world would continue to bring them down

And sometimes it felt too big

But they also knew

That they could overcome it

And they didn’t have to be popular or talkative offstage to prove it

All they had to do

All they had to be 

Was themselves

And with that 

Nothing could bring them down.

I wish I had known you when we were younger

With our sun-kissed cheeks and lopsided grins

When we were filled with joy and mindless wonder

At summer church camp singing off-tune hymns

Peanut butter and jellies on the beach

Running barefoot through those white sandy dunes

Climbing trees, it would be your hand which I’d reach

Among the leaves on those sunny afternoons

Sticky popsicle melt trailing down our wrists

While we caught fireflies in the late evenings

And I truly wish all of that exists

Not merely as my sentimental feelings

Because I did not know you way back then

So I settle for loving you now, my friend

Mom. 
There's this girl I've been avoiding. 

I've known her for a long time, 
And we were close some time ago. 
But at some point we just grew apart. 

It's mostly my fault, I think. 
I started prioritizing other things over her 
Which I thought were more important. 

But I saw her again this morning,
In the mirror.
She's changed a lot since I last met her.

She's not quiet anymore.
She's emotional.
She has a sharp tongue and lies easily.

I never noticed these changes happening,
But here they were:
She grew up.

Right before my eyes.

what do you do when you cross the sea without me? 

on this warm night, I stand outside in the blue dark. 

I wear a bathrobe over my pajamas 

and old crocs that are faded purple 

I look to the clear sky above 

the stars are bright 

the moon is just a sliver 

and from the west I see a plane.

it cuts through the sky like a knife

and if I listen close, I can hear it whir 

it carries you far away from me. 

it's strangely peaceful, 

and mystically bittersweet

to watch you dive into the darkness shrouding the east. 

I lay down in my driveway 

letting the night coat me in feeling

I begin to wave at the sky

to wave at you

as if you'll see me from 30,000 feet

out that tiny window

if you even got a window seat. 

I miss you, even though you've only just left

I know it will hurt even more

the day you leave forever

and cross the sea one final time

never coming back

but for now

I feel something more powerful than pain

this is love. 

1. A hole

     Clawed hands do not care

     for mothers’ desperate cries,

     tattered sinew left

     where the beating heart of this,

     where Humanity once sat
 

2. A hope

     I have seen the world

     tattered and at war, ending

     safely from my home

     Humanity seems evil

     Yet I know it’s still good. Please. 
 

3. While you live

     Fog hugs to the earth,

     sticky with the honeyed truth

     of this changing world.

     While you fold laundry, you don’t

     want to think of the children




(NaPoWriMo promp one!! <3)

We’ve all lost something before

Whether an old sock or a stuffed dinosaur 

A broken guitar, a key to a home

A book from school or a brown hair comb

We realize, much too late, these things slipped away

A sad reminder not everything is here to stay

We’ll miss these things, but move on with our lives

Another item for the archives 

Some people can’t let go - they search and search

But even after all their research

They still can’t find the thing they once held so dear

And then it’s really gone, into the atmosphere

But the real question that haunts my mind

About all these things we can’t quite find 

When feelings are lost, and connections are ended

Something happens and things can’t be mended

Do those once fond memories just fade away

Or are they still there, put away for another day?

All lost things have to go somewhere

So why do you act like they were never there?

Maybe we can’t find the things we lost

Mistakes happen, objects get tossed

But I don’t want you to forget

All the things we did that I’ll never regret.