If it feels wrong, don't do it
2. Say exactly what you mean
3. Don't be a people pleaser
4. Trust your instincts
5. Never speak bad about yourself
6. Never give up on your dreams
7. Don't be afraid to say no
8. Don't be afraid to say yes
9. Be kind to yourself
10. Let go of what you can't control
11. Stay away from drama & negativity
12. LOVE

– billiondays

As we drove
in pouring rain
a metaphor
found me.

The excitement
rushed through me
as the idea of the birth
of another poem lit my

wiped out morning mind.
"Something about how
raindrops fall and
open up when they

hit the window wall;
just like them," I thought,
"we need to open up
when we fall apart."

But it was 6:30 A.M.
and my mind slipped
into a quick nap and hence,
this poem instead
I trap.

lay with me on the lawn
when it's too hot to move
and silently soak up the sunlight

dance with me while moonlit
to your favorite song
as the stars shimmer in our eyes

love every part of me,
speak to me in poetry,
and never let me go

I know you’ve hard your times,
Tough, sad and tumultuous,
But I have too,
And I never left the ones I loved,

I’ll never fully understand
The thoughts that ravage your head
Why your tears fall like streams
Oh apathy coming out of me.

Sweetheart, I love you
And I’ll count the days
Until you’re home.

It rained tonight.
Did you know that it reminded me of you?
The sound of each drop hitting the pavement.
A simple reminder of the day I first saw your face
And the sweet "hello" I'll always remember.

It rained tonight.
The smell of wet pavement filled my room
And I could almost hear our footsteps in tandem
Walking through the winding city.

It rained tonight.
The concrete must've been cold
Like the pavement we sat on by the lake*
Where we watched the water bob and weave.
Where we smoked our cigarettes and just stared out.

*It rained tonight -
And hope it never stops.

Today
multiple times
people brought your name up
in casual conversation
tossing it around lightly
not realizing that they were handing me bricks
each time they joked and nudged my shoulder
one brick added
each time their lips curved upward in a smile because of my odd disposition
two bricks
each time I looked down trying to avoid the multiplying of baggage
bricks
they carry your name in their minds sitting next to mine
they see my love for you as little or insufficient quantity
just a crush, no big deal, she'll get over it
Today
multiple times
people brought up your name
and I just looked down, looked away, looked anywhere else
because all I have ever known
was to look away in the name of you

"They keep calling him lucky" my mama
says
reading about a boy so desperate as to
climb
into the wheel well of an airplane
and fly to Hawaii.

They keep callin him lucky.

Temperatures of -80 degrees, almost completely depressurized.
Says only 18 people have ever survived.

They keep callin him lucky and I can't help but wonder if he passed out from lack of air, or simply lack of life.

Says he ran away from his family yet people keep callin him lucky.

I think of ever time I lift off
how many boys got their eyes on my plane
wishing they could be me?

He was desperate enough to
crawl into what he must have known to be
certain death.

Yet they keep callin him lucky.