wordsmithing virus lyric
twisting lines empirically
like British empire builders
treating native speakers
subhuman /
reading worn cliché
daily lamenting regurgitated
form and style
while smiling at the beguiling nature
of multisyllabic structure ~
it’s easy to forget (in a legalization nation)
that the idea of utilizing parentheticals
is really
just using parenthesis  ~
creating space between the artist


                     and
                           the
                                reader


is pretentiousness personified /

it is our job to play Ishmael
and take them with us
not leave them shore bound
watching the speck of sail
slip into the stratosphere ~

come with me
lend me your hand
more importantly your eyes
and an open mind ~

then we can journey
together /

Here's to showing off about football
Here's to thinking cautiously
Here's to candy
Here's to barely knowing the person who sits two seats away
Here's to a sweet tooth that tests limits
Here's to kitties and puppies
Here's to slowing rejecting the seating chart
Here's to a new chart that brings two seats together
Here's to a mutual friend
Here's to black and blonde hair
Here's to math class
Here's to learning
Here's to growing
Here's to October for reducing two seats away to one
Here's to November for closing the gap
Here's to weird animals
Here's to a new group
Here's to the boy who drops out
Here's to getting to receiving his GED
Here's to "I don't want to go homes"
Here's to choir as well
Here's to the weird science teacher who's room is claimed
Here's to awkward conversations that keep life flowing
Here's to boyfriends that lack approval
Here's to moving to a new room
Here's to arguments about Jess and Dean
Here's to Rory and Lorelai
Here's to that phone call at nine pm
Here's to "He wants to take a break"
Here's to "It's mutual" through heavy tears
Here's to friends ready to comfort
Here's to "He's trying to cheat on you"
Here's to "I just broke up with you, that's what happened"
Here's to feeling comfortable again
Here's to pause buttons for God of War
Here's to "He just broke up with me"
Here's to "He's just doesn't feel the same way anymore"
Here's to comfort and to "I hate him"
Here's to wanting to better oneself
Here's to falling short and crawling back
Here's to first fights
Here's to only lasting twenty minutes
Here's to "He blocked me"
Here's to "He's cheating on me"
Here's to not needing him
Here's to the past coming back to haunt you
Here's to being stabbed by someone once called friend
Here's to silence
Here's to "She's so pretty"
Here's to "I love you"
Here's to "No more pining after lame guys"
Here's to seeing that teacher at Goodwill
Here's to days of brokenness
Here's to hope
Here's to the future
Here's to sweet sixteens
Here's to first cars
Here's to reptiles in rainy weather attire
Here's to sassitude
Here's to sasstastic people
Here's to near deaths
Here's to survivals
Here's to first sleepovers
Here's to lunch at that cute Italian bistro nobody knows
Here's to Philly cheesesteaks
Here's to Thai tea
Here's to "When can we do this again"
Here's to nightmares about rejection
Here's to dreams about perspective
Here's to an undying friendship
Here's to an eternity of trust
Here's to many more days
Here's to you
And here's to me,
Cheers,
Your best friend

I've already found my home
I'm looking for our house

When everything else "good" left
Hope remained throughout the chaos

Too much drama
Too much noise
Too much "he said, she said"
Too much hatred
Too much pain
I can't toast to that
The world has tilted itself
Too far on its axis
I fear it will never correct
I want to spread love
To spread inspiration
To spread hope
To spread future
To spread encouragement
But life has so many downs
It seems almost impossible to adjust
The world to its proper proportions
So we just adjust
To the shifted thought
And its ever-widening gyre
That consumes us whole
Then never ceases to fill our bodies
With hatred and eat away at our souls
So this I urge
Wake the **** up
We need more positivity
And I am just as guilty
But I want to change
And make the world
See a 180 change
For the better

Dear fellow ink dwellers,
I wish that when you have a problem
After writing about it
That you would talk about it
We can't sit around letting an issue
Weigh heavy upon our souls and hearts
We need to open up discussion
And bear our burdens
We might not all like each other
But as poets we are a large community
And all of us can relate to pain
You can't make light of it
So I urge you
*Talk

Isn't as uplifting as it is on a Wednesday
Isn't as sweet as on Sunday
Isn't as forgiving as a Saturday
Isn't as filling as on Thursday
Isn't as full of memories as Tuesday
Isn't as carefree as it is on a Friday
But a strawberry lemonade on a Monday
Is far more poignant
Thoughtful and brooding
More intuitive and emotional
Definitely more sympathetic
And more compassionate
It's friendlier
It's more enticing
I wish every day
Was a little more like
Strawberry lemonade on a Monday