heavy drops crash down
mini bullet trains from above
our tickets, punched
with endless love

feet splashing asphalt
soaked in sky tears
forgiving its enemies
as long as you're near

to run in the rain
is to run nature's race
you turn, briefly
our arms embrace

rushing water
under our toes
a kiss,
"one mile left to go"

"at the mental hospital
there was this young teen—we'll call him Derek
he would incessantly brag about all the children he'd *****
the workers would give him one cup of OJ a day
because he was such a ****** up ****
and they had that in their hospital notes
'Derek only gets one cup of OJ a day'
that was all he was fed

now me—well the workers liked me
because i never gave them any trouble, i guess
and i'd be sitting there chugging four/five cups a day
watching Derek only get one
and at first i thought that was kind of unfair and ****** up
but i realized something
humans reciprocate good actions
do people nice and people'll do you nice in return
i guess i'd never internalized that before
that ******* like Derek get their OJ restricted
but being stuck in a mental hospital for years really lets you think
that was the point in my life i learned empathy"

if i won the lottery
most folks would ask me
to share
and to their dismay
i would say nay
turn and walk away

now the ones who ask nothing—
the ones who enjoy my company
walk to the lighthouse
get coffee with me
the ones who know what it means to be
genuine people

they are the ones
who'll receive my money

"what else is new?!"
yelled the fast food crew
watching some ******* dude

put his ******* mouth on the ketchup dispenser nozzle

sitting with a friend after dark
a car pulls up alongside the park
a young man walks out alone
"hey guys someone stole my phone!
i was lying in the grass when it fell out
i asked someone to help me out
he called it, called it, and called it again
then found it and ran
******* it man!"

"**** bro that's a tough blow
did you happen to recall his info?"

"well i remember his car and i believe his name
i'm just going through a lot and i'm sick of these games"

"do you think we can call it?"

"he powered it off..
stupid ******* *****," he scoffed
"guys i just don't know what to do. im going through a lot of mental health issues right now, and i don't mean to get too dark but i've seriously considered killing myself recently. that phone had a lot of personal videos of me documenting my thoughts and whatnot. this is driving me crazy"

"hey man trust me i've been there before
you gotta find someone to help you through the door
my case worker helped me a lot with that
my suicidal thoughts are a thing of the past
now do you think we could perhaps call the cops?"

"well it's late, i'd probably be stuck here a while right?
i'll just drive to my moms to spend the night
**** i wish i'd found you guys first. thank you"
and he drove off

my friend then turned to me
"i should've given him a hug, man
i feel like if i asked him if he wanted a hug, and started walking towards him with my arms outstretched and just did it
he would've started crying
that would've helped him more than anything"

the first law of thermodynamics states that:
energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only altered

the dictionary defines death as
the cessation of life

this is contradictory
as all life is equivalent to energy
life cannot be destroyed,
only altered

and so,
"death" is just the transfer of your energy
to microorganisms who feed on your body
who then continue the cycle
dispersing your energy across the universe

so why be afraid of it?

death as you know it
does not exist
you are afraid of nothing
why be afraid of anything?

why be afraid to talk to your crush?
to talk to the person on the bus?
to give to someone all your trust?
to accept former actions as unjust?

you live
you learn
you transfer your energy
and the cycle continues for all eternity

you are the culmination of trillions of years of work
and the producer of infinite more
step down from your fears
let the story unfold