As it begins,
You explore who you are
And how you fit into the world.
More questions than answers.
Answers begets more questions.
You know you must choose a direction.
The abundance of obstacles
Clutter your path,
And an overwhelming sensation occurs,
One you’ve experience before;
Fear.

As you fall,
You are unaware of lost footing.
The world shows multiple grays,
And all the fear
You fought valiantly to subdue
Reminds you it never left.
The fires spread,
Consuming all for its feast,
Conflicting with all you stand for.
You hit the ground soaked in its residue;
Chaos.

Through the pain
You endure the worst,
Discovering the secrets of the fickle world
And who you must be to survive.
Adapt, reinvent, unlock
Your next form, your new wisdom.
Reach down, gather your strength
And stare down the flames
With an unyielding resolve,
And achieve what chaos thought you could never do;
Rise.

Sweet tea
And mustard stains’ what I remember first
Of the night we watched
Fireworks at the Inner Harbor,
Then I threw up.
Nervous from your mild touch
As you held my hand, it wasn’t planned.
It was mid July
And we watched our favorite band
Play our song.

That’s all we had.
That summer night
And neon lights to guide our way home.
You kissed me softly on the cheek.
Your eyes said words I couldn’t speak.
I’m whistling our playlist
And hoping your kiss won’t fade.

While I try to sleep,
I couldn’t help but to think
This just might be my moment.
So I grabbed my keys, took dad's car,
I’m practicing my repertoire.
How was I to know
What I’d see in your window?

The shadows moved from right to left,
Feeling my heart break in my chest.
The clear picture made me sick
To see who you replaced me with.
When it rains it will surely pour
And my socks soaked to the floor.
I wish I would have stayed in bed.

I clutched my hand upon my cheek.
My tears said words I couldn’t speak.
I’m deleting our playlist
But still hoping your kiss won’t fade.

Silhouette
Of your beautiful heart
Saunters
Over my lonely shoulders,
Clutching
Your very memory,
Reminding me you’re not here.
Oh, how empty, without you.
Waking up, and I feel
Your breath.
Your touch.
Reality wakes up too
And humbles me.
I know
I could
Never
Show you
How much you shaped me,
How much I see you,
How much I love you,
How much I need you.
My world is my house
But your love feels like home.

You take the worst of you.
You take the worst and hide it away,
Deep in a dark building,
In its dark basement,
In the darkest room,
And lock it away.
Hidden and forgotten.
You hide it because you’re ashamed;
You hide it because you can’t erase it.
So it’s buried with all your flaws,
Mistakes,
Regrets,
Never to see the light.
Time convinces you this is who you are.
And you believe it so.

Then someone comes along
And sees what you want to become.
What you can become,
And the light they shine on you
Is the warmest your skin has ever felt.
You want them to know the real you,
Not the version common eyes feast on.

You clutch the key in your pocket,
Twirling it in your trembling hand,
Wanting to hand it to them,
Allow them to venture to the depths of your failures.
You want them to see it and exclaim
“I still accept you.”

The thought fades,
And you’re reminded of the storage
That haunts the basement of that lonely building.
You see the terrors tucked away
And imagine what this special person would think.

You are a hoarder of horrors,
Too afraid to let anyone see,
And too afraid to let go.

Peace.
It’s so far fetched to think I could catch a moment of solace.
Eluding me, so close and yet so far..
But you’re the answer to a question I could never ask.
If I’m the sky then you must be the star.

Trying to remember the emotions I lost in a year.
It’s flooding back each time you look at me.
The lies I told myself were all I knew.
The truth inside your bright eyes let’s me see.

But I don’t want to see beyond this night
As the morning light is too bright.

Spent so long
Trying to make sense of it all.
Starry night
Makes me feel so big, yet so small.