each blossoming flower perky and unprepared for what's about to come,
each petal plucked one by one,
a deep bruise within the heart of the root,
a vulnerable stem fragile to each blow of the March wind,
left softly swaying in the garden where she no longer belongs.

Who controls who?
Don't feel pressured
Jealousy kills like a scarlet sweet summer.

I love all too much
Fatally tied down
Constantly searching for the ring in the sink.

a young boy, thin and bony
grew up,
grew up quiet and lonely
a young boy, the sweetest boy
grew up,
grew up filled with joy

a teenager, still quiet and lonely
grew up,
grew up with two friends only
a teenager, the nice guy
grew up,
grew up vulnerable and shy

a middle aged man, gone rotten
grown up,
grown up forgotten
a middle aged man, left broken
grown up,
grown up with emotions never spoken

You loved the feeling of pain,
you loved knowing people cared about you,
I still don't know if it was true,
but, I still pray for you,
I don't believe in God but I still pray.

I still pray to never forget about you,
the first thing I ever saw,
thin cuts on your wrist,
escalated to full body wounds,
I was too naive to understand it,
but, you taught me so well,
so well that I even tried it on myself.

halfway started, halfway finished.

day by day,
rising up and dreading the early morning.
night by night,
rejoicing the finished homework by 11:59 pm.

looking beyond the lectures, busy hallways, quiet libraries, and slamming lockers.

so many memories,
each one a treasury.
remembering every beautiful and bitter detail,
just barely gripping onto the back of our brains.

waking up in new state with the people you hold dearest.
creating anecdotes to tell your family back home.
from sitting around a smoky campfire,
telling stupid stories that we will soon forget.
to rolling down mountains of crystal white sand,
sand that closely resembles an abundance of fluffy snow.

so many opportunities,
all in different communities.
realizing passions and setting goals,
as if we will someday fulfill them.

just yesterday,
hands and voice trembling during presentation.
today,
confident and secure.

we're only getting older.
each day bringing new experiences.

we're only getting wiser.
learning from the people who broke us.
growing from the friends that help us.

we're only getting richer.
not in the sense of money but in the sense of knowledge.
a thriving thirst to learn that just keeps on growing.

we're only getting bolder.
figuring out who we want to become.

not willing to let go of the past.
not ready for what the future holds.