Tattoos are scars
we choose to keep--
words we want to carry,
memories we fear losing;
ink and needle are
the self-inflicted stinging:
the pain we choose to feel.
art on our bodies--
out of our minds--
something
real.

At first, there is nothing,
Then a blossom of light
It brightens your day,
And glows in the night.
A wonderful feeling,
Puts warmth in your chest.
And for a short while,
You feel strangely blessed.
But then, there are those things
That just will not work.
They try and fit together,
But both are just… hurt.
So one says goodbye,
The other says it doesn't matter,
But in actuality,
Both hearts are shattered.
Like broken pieces of glass,
They cut and you bleed,
But both visions are too clouded
To see what they really need.
A little bit of warmth
To melt and to mend
A new kind of glow
To see you through to the end.
There will be many ups and downs
There will be sunshine and rain
There will be love and heartbreak
They will always be the same.
Someone will shatter you,
And you’ll feel
there’s no way to be fixed,
But broken isn't unfixable,
And someone new
is thrown into the mix.
All love may not be eternal,
But some things will last,
And heartbreak only lasts,
As long as it is asked.

i sat there for the
longest time.

In the dark-
in that small,
small space and

fabric rustled around me
with every shift and every
movement and change.

I watched, through
the small crack of light,
the shadows
dance and the soles of
shoes pass.

I tried to make sense
of their movements
the sounds that come
out of their mouths.

Their interactions.

After the longest time I
decided to stand up
from the floor
of that small, dark space.

Quietly,
I put my hand on
the ****, and it turned.

I crept out
of that space.
Timid, unsure.

I don't think
anyone noticed.
I'm glad.

I'm still not quite...

there yet.

Sometimes,
When you call out my name
And you smile and wave,
I smile because, well,
Why wouldn’t I smile?

But sometimes,
Hours later when I lie
Awake in bed and smile
To myself, I learn to hate
That smile.

Because you always,
always smile at me,
and never for me.
Never in the way
you smile for her.

Sometimes
“I'm just tired”
Means
I'm sad

Sometimes
“I'm just tired”
Means
I feel like nothing

Sometimes
“I'm just tired”
Means
I don't know

Sometimes
“I'm just tired”
Means
You wouldn’t understand

Sometimes
“I'm just tired”
Means
I want to cry but I won't

Sometimes
“I'm just tired”
Means
I just wish…

Sometimes
“I'm just tired”
Means
I want to scream

And Sometimes
“I’m just tired”
Means I’m lost
and I don't know what to do

What is
A soulmate?

is it someone who
knows
everything about you
without needing to be told?

Or is it someone who
completes you?

Are they supposed to be
your other half?

Do you need to be
completely
dependent
on each other?

Can a soulmate be
a friend?

Do you know exactly
who it is
the moment you meet them?

Do you only have one soulmate?
certainly there
(or somewhere).

What if you
aren't in
Love?

She sleeps
In the bright meadow
Under the sunny oaks,
maples, pines.

The darkness closes in.
Still,
She sleeps
And the guardian watches on.

I clung to you like a lifeline-
A floating buoy in a violent sea
But when I let go of you
Into the deep, deep
Blue,
I found that I had gills—
And I could breathe.

The rain descends
like a velvet curtain.

I use that steady
pounding, thrumming
downpour

to cleanse my skin
of your touch.

It fills me up, and I spit you out;
wring you out of my hair.

Thunder crashes
lightning flashes
and I
Let
you
go.

bold?
/italics/?
"Normal"
bold* /italics/?
Someone
please
explain

They say when you hit
Rock
Bottom,
The only way left to go
Is up.
But what happens
When I reach
the top
of the mountain?
What happens
when there is no way
to reach higher?
is that my Limit?
When you reach the bottom,
the only way left to go
is up.
When you reach the top
Can you go no further?

I think
I’m crashing down.

If I could leave my soul behind
I would leave it here-
Where it could dream forever.

I want to go
where the sun is clear
and the air is fresh-
somewhere I can be at peace

All I want from life
is that when I smile
someone always smiles back

My soul grows restless
though I grow weary
I wish for a peaceful adventure
to cure this aching want.

I feel the feather-light touches
Of imaginary fingers
As they creep across my shoulders.
Longingly,
I pretend that the pressure
Across my chest is the security
Of your arms holding me.
But really, it is the constricting
Bind of loneliness
Gripping me tightly.

Look into my broken eyes
And thus wholly truthful be:
Did you love “us” truly?
Or only the idea of “me”?

Sometimes i just want
To curl up on
A cold, rainy day
And sink into
The arms of someone
Who loves me.

If the world
started to burn,
she might have just
let it.
    -- if only out of spite.

Made, Made, Made,
We are made into what we are.
We are made
Into monsters,
Into dreamers;
          Believers.
We make ourselves;
Make each other.
We make our kingdoms
and our own personal Hells.
We are the queens of our realms
          And the kings and princes
We are the villains
The rabble-rousers
The Revolutionaries.
We are the killers
        Of our enemies
        Of our own
        Of the land.
We are made into what we are
And oftentimes,
It is not our fault.

Be the ocean
Wild and free
Everchanging
And unrelenting

Be the storm
Calm at the center
A whirlwind
All around

Be the sun
Burning bright
Shining down
A source of Life

Be the night
Brilliant as the stars
But also the darkness
Helping them shine

Be the leaves
Flying away
At the whim of the breeze
Colors of the wind

Be brave
Be humble
Have courage
And Be kind

Be the changemaker
Be the change
You want
The world to be

Be whoever-
Whatever-
You want
To be

She was a match in the night-
Bright, brilliant, burning.
When the sun rose
She burned on and on and on
And then It came,
The cool, calming wind
That saved her from herself
Breathe, it told her,
Breathe into the dawn.
For it was not any one person
Or one single thing, that saved her:
Only the freedom
And the rush-
The promise of a Wild Life.

The bite of the cold
(Outside)
Is nothing compared to this
(your) Suffocating warmth
(I can’t stand it)