do you still love me
do you still love m
do you still love
do you still lov
do you still lo
do you still l
do you still
do you stil
do you sti
do you st
do you s
do you
do yo
do y
do
d
di
did
did y
did yo
did you
did you e
did you ev
did you eve
did you ever
did you ever l
did you ever lo
did you ever lov
did you ever love
did you ever love m
did you ever love me

My friend reminds me of summer
He smells of fresh cut grass
And clean air
A mosaic
Blue sky and clouds
Wildflower meadows
Cold running streams

He is warm and musical
Kind and funny
But his eyes are sometimes sad

He has the biggest heart
And tries and strives to be and do
So much for so many
He often forgets to account for himself

I think there is a hole
Deep inside
His heart seeks to fill
And somedays he is lonely
Even when he is not alone

He gives the best hugs
and tells the best jokes

He is patient when I am an idiot
Which sometimes is a lot
He is kind when I am afraid
Which happens more
Than I like to admit

He is just as mortal and vulnerable
As anyone else
He doesn’t hide from it
It becomes his strength

He stands boldly
In the face of harsh challenges

alone

Like a superhero or maybe a myth
Few men have the will to try

It’s funny to watch
The people scurry by him
As if
He is untouchable and unknowable
Titles can be a cruel endowment
For people with good hearts

All

I see

When I look at him

Creative passionate soul
Big hearted
Knucklehead
Little boy
Emperor king

A man of complex nature
A man of contrasts

Light and dark and rainbow prisms
Soul and funk and jazz
A perfectly unique recipe
For a man

My friend

Freud says tattoos
Are
The Manifestation
Of a
Trauma

Every point
A
Separate pain
We
Have
Suffered

It took
Two
And a
Half
Hours

To complete
The
Diary
Of my
Trauma

And half a million perforations

To convert
Those
Memories
Into something

New

And

Beautiful

To finally
Let go
Of the past

Never be like some coloring book: written and drawn on,
ruined then passed on;  
by multiple people threw out the years....

Your life deserves more..

Be like an entire book series:
Fulfilled with depth and glory,
Surviving great falls and peaks;
You are the author and only you can choose....

To inspire greatness and growth,
Or to bow and admit defeat;
But only you, have the power to choose....