Have you ever thought about
Or even taken the time
To look behind the wonder of
The innocence in the child?

Children must place every ounce of strength
In those who choose to raise them.
They cannot choose where they are born
Or which parents choose to make them.

As they are the sweetest gift
Given in and out of love.
The key that opens the empty heart -
Angels from above.

Do you remember our first date?
You wore a black T-shirt, running a bit late.
You had a head full of hair and glasses,
I swear you were my first real crush.
It was a little too much.
I had you ask my Dad if I could go,
'Cause I was too nervous he would say no.
We wanted to watch Saw II but got rejected.
We were too young, and the theatre by default selected
That we'd watch "Chicken Little" the only other movie they showed,
At our town's little theatre, we passed by the Skittles,
And watched the show in quiet excitement.
Then we waited for our rides, and feeling resentment,
Listened to the end credits of the movie we'd rather have seen,
If only we were eighteen.
It was a song we liked called "Burn the Witch,"
We sang along and smiled, feeling enriched by each other's presence,
We knew this was Heaven.
We didn't kiss or cuddle,
We may have hugged, and that would have settled.
It was a teenage bliss,
Excitement, nerves, wants that would someday be satiated,
But even now that I have with you all of this,
Marriage, and ***, and a morning kiss,
I look back on our first date when we were kids,
And know everything we ever did
Was a result of that fearful question,
"Do you want to go on a date?"
And yes, I did.
I would all over again.

He wants her to be something else,
The girl she was before.
She cannot change, it's not her quest
To be what he's looking for.
She has a newfound independence,
Before would die if their love would end.
What accomplishment now
That on him, her happiness doesn't depend.
See, she loves her darling in every sense
Though that desperate attachment
Is now past tense.
Together and happy, but don't you forget
How she lives her life will not be set by his discretion.
Side by side they tread, as she makes her own steps
Down this winding road they find themselves on.

To be passionate
Takes raw courage.
It can easily
Be met with
Discouragement.
But to stick
To your guns,
Through disapproving
Glances and glares
That will surely be met,
That is a courage
I wish one day
To boldly face.
Until then,
I have a pen
And a paper,
That doesn't question
Or judge
My passion.

She isn't particularly bright
In a standardized test sense,
But she shines like helium-hydrogen
To him without pretense.

Her humor needs some work
To give him belly aches.
At least she takes the fall
When he laughs at her mistakes.

She isn't very clean,
Very orderly, very neat.
Without her, he'd be disheveled.
She makes their home complete.

She's very kind, a lovely heart
To those that she will meet.
She feels she can still do better
To those cast on the street.

She is her toughest critic,
Much harsher than the rest.
Not a thing he wouldn't change,
He knows she tries her best.

I would die for them
To not be consumed
Through mass consumption,
Through a mass genocide.
Every day, millions dead.
Every day alive,
Just as miserable, as hopeless
As the day they are led
To the heavy slaughterhouse doors.
I would die for it to end.
But since I can't, I'll live for them.

Captured and kicking,
I'm back at the clinic.
Due to spins and spills,
I must swallow these pills.
A kaleidoscope in my mind
Swirling, no concept of time.
False beliefs held with pure conviction.
Afraid of the world, of loved ones, suspicion.
To others, appearing a mess.
Feeling like I am the best.
Happiest times of my life.
Happiness comes with a price.