Just a way.
Away.
Away from you, away from me.
Being away is like starting off fresh,
Like hopping out of a steaming shower in the dead of winter,
That wave of coldness, unfamiliarity.

Like, you’re naked,
It’s lonely, but it’s you.
It’s like, you know it’s better but now you have to warm up to the differences,
All the differences;
Meeting new people is like drying your hair,
At first we want to seem collected,
But later when we feel comfortable,
We let them see our wet hair,
Our wild side,
What’s underneath all the beauty,
What’s natural,
What’s real,
With what you wish you could have started.

Still you.
Only better,
Natural,
Open,
Free even.

Free to say what you want,
Do what you like,
Act as you choose.

Shivering is like finally being able to cuddle up next to someone,
Not worried about if you’ll snore or drool on the way into your slumber,
It’s being comfortable where you are, seems a paradox.
Shivering is what you do without thinking,
It’s how your body reacts before you take control,
It brings a body comfort,
When you cuddle with another being it’s as if you’re allowing them to take you over,
In a good way of course,
You feel like your world is complete,
Like if it ended nothing would change,
The arms wrapped around all of you become your walls,
And nothing can get you while inside.
You can live without them,
But feeling the warmth and life in someone is enough to sustain you,
Once you leave that bed, once you stop shivering,
You realize you are your own warmth.

I don’t know how to feel about anything anymore,
I just don’t,
It’s neither here nor there,
Not hidden just never gotten to,
I can never fully open up to anyone,
But then again who really can?

Sometimes I feel empty,
But I soon remind myself how selfish it is to feel that way,
How much suffering there is in the world,
How much I have to be thankful for,
But it’s not the things I have that make me happy,
It’s the people I know and the connections I have.

The only sadness I harness commences from the loss of human contact,
With the loss of a friend,
Being away from family,
Feeling like we’ll never be the same again,
No matter what it’s like I can always be to blame,
For something.

For not stopping what’s wrong,
For not doing what’s right,
It’s always a matter of what’s next,
Who’s next.

Sometimes I feel tears coming on,
But I don’t let them come out,
My chest tightens,
I feel weak; and the sick cycle perpetuates.

But I know it’s nothing out of the ordinary,
Everyone must feel this way,
All people are the same,
I wish they would realize that.

Maybe I am an idealist,
But at least I have a vision,
A vision similar to King’s,
More demanding but less articulated,
I have a dream that one day everything will be ok,
Everything.
I know that can happen.

But they say I’m different,
They mean it in a good way,
So I take it as a compliment,
I’m too shy to ask for clarification,
In fear that I might seem conceited,
Asking to hear more about myself,
Today though, I asked.

He said it’s because I’m not like anyone else,
Well. That certainly didn’t answer my question,
And even if it did, it didn’t make me feel any better,
After all everyone is different from everyone else.

No one thinks the same way,
No one has all the same experiences,
Nor do they formulate the same reactions or reflections,
I believe that if I had started dictating these thoughts a millisecond before or after I did, that they would be completely different,
Not because my thoughts would be changing,
Rather because the kaleidoscope of our minds are always tumbling,
Rolling around,
Re-structuring,
Not in a good way or a bad way.

A beautiful girl walks out of a filthy room,
A butterfly emerges from a dusty cocoon,
Snowflakes fall from ominous clouds,
Flowers spring up from the dirt.

Clean clothes come out of an old, rusty dryer,
Delicious food is cooked in a squalid toaster,
Fresh fruit is chopped on a sticky counter,
Milk is kept cold in a sullied refrigerator.

Horrible people can create wonderful children,
From sins can come forgiveness;
But ****** wars only produce more conflict,
Genocides cannot be justified.

Not everything that is bad can transform into something better,
Some things can never be vindicated,
When the people of the world value peace maybe we’ll stop acting like children,
Like a toddler who throws tantrums,
Countries fight battles,
Someone has to tattle.

Anytime now,
War can be a thing of the past,
We all just have to come together,
And use our voices,
Instead of our fists.

Words alone can get us what we want.

A firefighter afraid of heat,
A quarterback afraid of a football,
A speaker afraid to project,
A musician afraid to perform,
A lawyer afraid of court,
A teacher afraid of chalk,
An astronaut afraid of space,
A hair stylist afraid of scissors,
A bus driver afraid to drive,
A doctor afraid of needles,
A mother afraid of children,
A lover afraid to love.

We’re told we can be whatever we want to be,
But you must see,
That it is more important to do what you want than to try to overcome fears just to live up to expectations.

They reveal secrets to us and through the color we move.
Then you can taste the sound.
Every song fits with every shape and rhythm.
It can only take you if you let it,
But sometimes it’s best to let it take you,
To a place where 
the ghosts begin to move before you turn the lights off,
And shadows keep walking after you cease to move.

Be simple.
Put away your telescopes and put on your glasses,
Step back and take a closer look.
Put your camera away and take it in.
Put away your phone and speak to those around you.
Don’t complicate things,
Never add sugar to coffee,
Be as natural as organic food and as real as butter,
Don’t try to be something you’re not,
We already love you for what you’ve got,
So take this shot.

My face lights up when I see you,
My tears dissolve when you call,
My heart races when I hear your name,
I cry every time you say you love me,
All because I'm crazy about you.