Your laugh echoes thru my heart
Like school bells @3pm
My feelings rush for the halls of my mind
Like School children towards their lockers
I open up the memories of where you were
Some are finely folded in the back of a notebook
Others ripped & torn falling from tethered folders
I pick them all up
I keep them all
I leave them all in the places I find them
I scatter none across the ground
I do not rewrite other notes beside or on the flip side of them
They still smell like the fear of rejection
They still feel like the nervousness of a crush
& my God; they stick to my hands like first loves always do
There is nothing to wash away
I have licked, kissed & gently rolled my lips
All over the sweetness of your fleeting presence
It is only sour on the days I yearn for more
On those days music is honey across bitterness
I dance to all of our favorite songs
I smile like warm brown sugar
Each crumble dropping somewhere close to who you really are
Yet I don't see you anywhere near here
I can feel you pretending to feel nothing
About the best feelings you've never had
These memories, these notes; they become books
I rarely drop them but when I do
Some brave soul always seems to want to help me carry them
Despite the back pack full of his own
He doesn't know that I know what happens when his shoulders fail
When carrying mine distracts him from the weight of his own
It is only when I take mine away that he can feel what was there all along
We could all use a little summer vacation in love
A time to put away the notes we've written
Become the words instead
Share them under peach trees
& Palm Trees
& Metro Parks alongside lakes with still waters
Listen to them crackle in bonfires
Drown out the loudness with laughter
Tilt your head back
Taste them on your lips like Half Iced tea Half Lemonade
Hold that left hand in your right, tightly
Inhale the fragrance of a first introduction



Not things

It was your silence that hooked me
paired with eye contact
from the first pair of eyes that
had seen me
in a while
& your smile
proved that you saw me
almost like you knew me
you chose to see me
instead of view me
this "new" me

Of course you believe in magic.
What you pull from your hat is far from the tricks of a rabbit.
You've made being aware the least of your bad habits.
There is a light in your eyes.
A fiery summer sky.
One worth wishing upon the stars of your mind.
A galaxy worth marveling at beyond these times.
It takes courage to be strong; thank you for being courageous.
You are the example of what our ancestors wanted for us.
I hope you continue on with the spirit of change & may God see you through!
You're a King; a good thing & we need more like you!

The world is a scary place
Find solitude in gratitude & grace
In that space
Its harder to be erased
From the lines of lies circling our race
There is no immunity
For our need for community
To be more seen than heard
To be more than the poetry of the spoken word
Animals are gifted
They get it
& commit to seeing it thru
We won't; they do
Its the truth
Humans are so complicated
Soon our existence will be confiscated
The creator will take back what we took for granted
Living without loving, hurting one another, naturally outlandish
We live above "I'm sorry" & below "Me too"
Hiding behind what has been done to us, avoiding what we chose to do
That lack of empathy
Creates less allies & far too many enemies
There has to be a better way, to live without reproof
The animals know no shame
of living life like it's a game
they don't; we do

From the moment I opened you up
(shhhhhhhh)
I knew you were all bottled up
(pop)
Took off your cap
Didn't have to tell you to relax
You knew what I was there to do
(Sigh)
Provide a little piece of paradise for you
but in the center of your stomach lived a thunder
Nothing frightening considering it wasn't paired with lighting
but it made me wonder
Who forgot to tell you that you're great
You believe it anyway, now,  so it may be too late
To tell you in so many ways
Its fate
That the ones who starve at first
Soon feed the masses with their worth
Destined for beautiful tragedies since birth
No accidents can happen
This path to reality isn't magic
Its fathomed long before we start
There is death in the depths of our hearts
There is life in the corners of our souls
There is beauty in the compilation of both stories when told
Truth speaks to seek what lies cannot tell
Fear is the reason most things fail
So I guess I was afraid to love you
The same way I was afraid to lose you
Most days I am afraid I'll choose you
Over me

My heart has skipped a beat before
what you make me feel
is more like hopscotch
or beat breaks in hip hop
you're dope!
not addictive
I won't need rehab
if we don't last
what am I saying?
I'm playing
not last?
everlasting isn't tied to expirations
tru-love
doesn't expire
or retire
it's a decision made before life
that even when it's not right
it's still light
that's why I hide my face
but I never hide who I am
I blush with you
because there's so much trust with you
your loyalty showed me what love should do
in time of need
you make it all about me
take the back seat to your own dreams
to push me forward
pushing toward it
the ultimate goal
constant reminders
that I am special
to you
to God
a blessing to anyone
who knows me
or knows that they never will quite like you do
one half to my whole
the mate to my soul

becareful Cinderella
your sisters want your fella
there is no umbrella
for the amount of years
you'll spend in tears
Sleeping beauty, keep on dreaming
Don't wake up to princes scheming
you'll find yourself lost in things not worth believing
Ariel, adhere to the truth
don't trade the Ocean for feeling blue
You shouldn't have to change who you are
If the man is really for you
Repunzel, don't let down your hair
be your own hero, let that dragon know you're not scared
Snow white be wise with whom you dabble
better to starve than eat from rotten apples
those dwarves are small but they're your brothers
let them help you re-discover
all the things about yourself
you won't learn from a prince or someone else
Jasmine listen
has anyone mentioned
better to have a man thats smitten
then a man who's simply full of riches
Belle be aware with the beast
he is only half a man to say the least
Tiana don't you find it odd
that your kiss could make him a prince
instead of instruction from God
oh the fairy tales we tell
do not buy what they try to sell
you're better off without that loan
finance your thinking on your own
what you produce will be better for your story
and worth hearing if it includes God getting the glory...