All my life,
I have been good.
Ive always stayed out of trouble,
always done my homework,
never cheated,
never lied,
and always stayed away from drugs.

But what if you are the drug that I cannot resist?
What if I crave you too much
and I just can't stop?
What if its too late now
and theres no turning back?

I know its too late.
You're in my bloodstream.
You have those eyes--
those eyes that make the wisest souls foolish
and the strongest ones weak.

I'm addicted now
I cannot quit you.
I am utterly addicted to your soul
and there is no rehab for that.

In a sea of people
I am but a tiny ripple
Crippled by my desire to be different
I cannot follow the rest of the current

The sky remains the same
And the sun burns not my name
But of others who have solved life's conundrum
Which is not to live in a humdrum

In order to be complete
I must be unique
But to be such
I must give myself a little nudge
And live my life in the moment
Take adventures for my own enjoyment
Waste no time in a bore
Make life not a chore
Uniqueness is how I decide my life to be

I must be my own ocean
The ripples my life's explosion
Of good and bad
And everything in between

I love people
Who I can be silent with.
Who lets the air be filled with unspoken syllables.
Who lets silence be silence,
Doesn’t push it away, unwanted and ugly.
Who makes it beautiful,
Not just empty and bland.
Who makes it thoughtful -  
Lets me see the marathon in their eyes.  
Who doesn’t puncture the air with filler words,
But rather morphs them into something
That when spoken,
Riles up my emotions. Makes me think. Makes me laugh.
Who lets the buzzing in the air,
The sound of breaths escaping us,
And the heartbeats in our chests
Sing in our broken ears.
Who doesn’t tone them down,
But emphasizes them.
Who looks around, then back at me,
And when the tranquility is finally fractured,
It is replaced by something  
Meaningful.

Hey you
I was thinking about you last night
Wrote a paragraph
Then backspaced all the lines

I'm sorry it's become this way
That things get in the way
That it's always too long
When I speak to you again

I think about you from time to time
Send a little prayer your way
I hope all is well
And life is treating you swell

I think of the troubles and harm you face
And believe you have the strength
To pull through and keep good pace
I hope these problems are never long in length

My friend I'm betting on you
I'm cheering on the side
Some battles have to be faught alone
Whilst people like me watch helplessly on

There were times I didn't go a single day
Without speaking to you
My friend I miss you
And I wonder at the changes life has done

Responsibilities
And duties
Have tied us down
I didn't know that growing up meant growing apart

i made no mistake
i made love.
opened my heart
gave a piece up

and in the end

i would not change a thing

There's a ghost in the machine
A distant heartbeat
An echo
A recollection of tides pulled by the rhythm
Of the moon
A lunar cycle
Of leaves swirled
And now settled
By the whisper
Of the breeze
A message repeated
But not audibly heard
Remembered and understood.
You are in the right place
Where you need to be
All you need now
Is to breathe and be.

the streets are filled with lies
of "how are you?" "oh, i'm fine!"s
strangers smile away all of
the battles that they hide
nobody's fine
nobody's great
it's not polite to articulate
the struggles that you're going through
but that's fine
how are you?

- p. winter