That is the key to happiness
To living grand and great
Do not ever settle for less

Always love, and love in excess
Make no room in your heart for hate
That is the key to happiness

Stand your ground, don't digress
When shown injustice, do not tolerate
Do not ever settle for less

Know the power of forgiveness
And always try to relate
That is the key to happiness

Don't believe the world will regress
Think of all the good you can create
Do not ever settle for less

Aid the helpless
Don't put too much on your plate
That's the key to happiness
Do not ever settle for less

Today I'm going to act like I got enough sleep
I won't apologize for who I am
Or follow meekly like a sheep

Today I'm going to live up to my claim
Of being ever the optimist
And look at the world through a new frame

Today and from now on I refuse to dwell on the past
Because while the bad times may come
The bad times never last

Today I'm going to reignite my passion
And get down to business
In a determined fashion

I will no longer be a slave to my bed
Today I'm going to get up and
Try to quiet the nagging voice in my head

Today is different
This change is deliberate
And not insignificant

My head
                                                   is a graveyard
             full of echoes
                                         of dreams
                                                          ­            of memories
                       of days long gone

I just want to write
and write
and write
and write
and write
Get these thoughts out of my head
So I can have a moment of respite
My mind is a battleground of thoughts
Shouting to be heard above all others
I feel panicked, frenzied
Why can't I just calm down
This is horrible night
Nothing is right
My brain can't flee or fight
I look a terrible sight
The self-hatred boils
And the worry screams
It'll be alright tomorrow
But tomorrow is so far it seems
Why can't I stop thinking
Why can't my mind stop racing
Just let me sleep
Just let me breath
Just let me believe
My mantra
That all will be well
Please
It's all I have left
My candle in the darkness
My dam holding back the flood
The one thing standing
Between me and oblivion
Just let me believe
That all will be well

"I'm an artist"
         I say with reverence
"I'm a lover"
         I say with pride
                                                                                       Because art and love
                                                                 Are what make life worth living

I am
                               an open book
           Written
                                            in a foreign language
My heart
                              on my sleeve
                                                            With a mask
covering
                                      my
                                                                          face

I could write about the ocean
About the crashing waves calling me
The lulling roar
Of dissonant ambiance
Holding secrets under the tumultuous surface

I could write about the mountaintops
The serene scene miles above
Where the air is too pure for this imperfect soul
Where I have never felt more alive

I could write about the city
Where life never really stops
Where the skyline itself is a monument to human ingenuity
And the people are moving, always moving
As life goes on and on

I could write about any of these wonder-filled places
But my heart lives in the rolling plains
The seemingly infinite horizon
The hot summer days radiating off the pavement
The snow blanketing the smoothness of the landscape
Where the sunsets illuminate even my darkest hours
And the normality of suburban life is comforting

You always take for granted what you are born into
But my world has always been good land
Inhabited by good people
Warm hearts, genuine souls
And an appreciation for the lives around them
Where I've never seen a deer and an antelope play
Where I don't live on a farm
Where my childhood flourished
And my adulthood is burgeoning

Kansas
Like my own personal Shire
Perhaps one day I'll leave for an adventure
But I'll always return
To where the horizon reminds me
Of infinite possibilities