Sometimes childhood is tough
Children go to school and get bullied
Help to no avail when the principal is told
Oh my word but school would be fun at times
Oddly kind and caring teachers
Lest schools be in this way forever

There was never a memory
I could not fit into my pocket.
I collected them like rocks on a beach,
leaving footprints and taking stones.
I wasn’t prepared for the day
when that pocket would get a hole in it;
that when I reached in to reminisce
on smooth cool memories
I would find only jagged rocks
that cannot or have not
had the chance to be worn down by sand and time.
Sometimes I will forget
what is in that pocket,
and in a moment of doubt I’ll go to hold those stones tight
coming up with only cuts on my palms.
There are memories and rocks
that I can’t put in my pocket,
that I need to keep  in my hand,
to remind myself of another time
and another place.
But my fingers can only stretch so far
and can only hold so much.
It is impossible to keep just the good
Things will fall,
lost to the waves spreading themselves out against the shore.
Sometimes, you’ll find a new stone that fits
more perfectly in your grasp than the last.
Don’t be afraid to move on.
And leave things behind.
Take the smooth with the jagged.
See the scars written across your skin as lessons and stories.
And remember
to leave footprints.

And through the night
We will fight
We pray to see the next dawns light
Caught in trenches huddled tight
Our brotherly blight
The enemy's spite
To return to sons and fathers
To hold our mothers and daughters
To see freedom never fade
This is why tonight we pray

A man is as good as his word
His word is judged by his family
His family by his friends
His friends by the public
The public by the government
the government by the world
The world by the sun
The sun by the universe
And the universe by God
So do not judge a man or his family
God might take offense ;)

Your words tear me down.
The heavy weight makes me drown
Our darkest hours pass
And we all stand alone

Out of the fire we will rise
Standing alone
But of common mind

The outcasts
The forsaken
The lost and earthly ******

We are the future
We are united
We stand alone to face what others deny

We are hope without hope
We are a chance that was never given
We are the puppet without a master

To the girl in my fourth grade class
Who minimalized my award,
Making my accomplishments unimportant.
I forgive you.

To the other girl in my class
Who convinced me that none of
The other girls liked me.
I forgive you.

To the group of girls
Who watched me cry numerous days in the cafeteria
Because I sat alone,
Uninvited, unimportant,
During lunch.
I forgive you.

To the same group of girls
Who didn't see me cry at 10th birthday party
Because none of them had cared to show up.
I forgive you.

To the ******* the bus
Who picked on me daily,
Causing me to return home in tears everyday.
I forgive you.

To the girl in the fifth grade
Who called me fat at the lunch table.
I forgive you.

To the same girl
Who told me that I couldn't wear my
American Girl shirt because the color of my skin
Meant that I wasn't American.
I forgive you.

To my friends
Who hadn't dare speak up on my behalf.
I forgive you.

To my mother
Who made me invite her to my birthday party,
You're lucky that she didn't show up.

To all of the kids out there
Who dread going to school,
Dread looking at themselves in the mirror,
And dread existing,
Forgive the bullies and forgive yourself.

Forgive yourself
For allowing them to tear you apart
And get so deep
Under your skin that parts of them still remain.

To myself. I forgive you.