I'm looking above me
Up into the sky
And thinking about the distance
Between you and I

I'm looking around me
At my pictures with you
And wondering what
Is the right thing to do

I'm looking within me
To see what I can find
Hoping our future
Can be found in my mind

As the day's sunlight begins to lack
I come closer and closer to the crack
For though I swore not
It seems to be ought
What hell will it be to go back

Some people look down upon them
Saying they have nothing good within
But I see it differently
In markups, I see
The person I was, am, and could've been

It's quite hard to flirt
When your parents and sister
Are between you two

Books should never be
Put in a washing machine
Just trust me on this

Maps are very good
But should that map fail, just ask
For some directions

Campuses are huge
But you soon will find that you
Can walk quite quickly

If weather says shorts
But your family says pants
Trust the weatherman

The pumpkin moon rises high in the sky
As I start humming Tim Burton lullabies
The air is crisp and cool and clear
Though not as crisp as the leaves I hear
The scents of smoke, apple, and misty dawns
Mingle as I walk past leaf covered lawns
Walking a black hound, as night comes from day
I walk around, glad that fall's here to stay

When panicking meets wondurous fantasies
Then you will see what I can see

When you test the bounds of your secrecy
Then you'll know what I can be

Halloween has come and gone
The spirits danced, scared, and then moved on
And without the protective spells from all the wands
We begin to hear the christmas songs

Si yo toco
Y tú cantas
Podemos ser
Una banda de leyendas

There are a great deal of things you can eat
After a long day of hiking
Because after a trail in afternoon heat
Nearly anything is to your liking
However, please note that it's almost
Because no mater how hard you try
You can't make good chicken pesto
In two minutes with water and ramen under the sky

Virginia's districts
Only make sense if you vote
Via canoe routes

These quizes offer no insights
Onto what "my perfect college" could be like
And how the (word that rhymes with duck)
Am I supposed to get seventy thousand bucks

I wonder if Doctor Doolittle
Started off like this

Sometimes all it takes is a little hope
In this world where presidents *****
When zika rides in on ebola's coattails
When so many relationships begin to fail
When we dismiss facts like we dismiss opinion
When we find the truth behind the "truths" we were given
When lead is found in water in Michigan
And the plains are under water as more rushes in
When extremism flourishes, taking thousands every day
When humans threatened by it are told they can't stay
When big brother dictators try out nukes
And we all just want to give this world the boot
All it takes is a little spark
To start hope's fire in the dark
We will learn and cooperate and grow
Fighting together, we're stronger than we know

My first thought on seeing him
Was "wow, you look dead inside"
But then I remembered
I looked like I'd just been hit blindside

Flashing red and gold
         Dancers leap across the stage
                         Graceful, wild, and free

Making your own choice
With something you're scared to do
Is learning to fly

Looking over a ledge
You're nervous, then you're scared once
You start to fall down

Then once you take off
Your breath catches, and you start
To soar in your mind

And for all your fear
Knowing that you've made your choice
Flies over anxiety

Art is not dead
It's just rearing its head
On sidewalks and forums
As well as a gallery's decorum

Music's not gone
The song still goes on
Online and in strip malls
Just like the concert halls

Legends are still written
Leaving an audience smitten
In novels and orations
And theaters across the nation

Culture's not gone
It's still moving on
And I, for one,
Think its just begun

She walked in her world
On a ground of cloth
She felt stable
And was very well off

This girl was curious
And liked to tease out the strings
Not carring that her pulling
Was messing with things

The girl grew older
And pulled out more strings faster
The holes forming in the fabric
Seemed to fly past her

Once she knew what was happening
She felt fear and dread
What once was strong fabric
Was now a spider's web

And though she valued
The knowledge she gained
The new veiw of frail heights
Put her mind under strain

She wondered which was better,
Scratching her head:
To walk on unteased cloth
Or a thoroughly pulled web

Who ever knew that
Wikipedia links could
Only be Plato's

A random thought
(Take it as you will):
I've been in every hotel
On this little hill

I guess sixteen years
Is enough time
To see every inn
I'm this road's line

The maladaptive is attractive to those like me
Isn't there a world where you'd rather be
Hours of daydreams at the expense of living
Is worth it for a world more solvable and forgiving
Infection, hiding scars, and makeshift bandages
Are worth it for the focus and the high's advantages
Anonymous self depreciation like a digital confession
Is worth it for hiding my distracted depression
Wandering around with thoughts of the end
Before I start to face down what's going on in my head

If
I could
Go back to
My childhood days

I
Wouldn't
Do well on
All of those tests
I'd ***** up each one
So no one would expect
That I'd automatically
Ace everything on the first try

I
Would not
Be docile
To all adults
Because then I could
Express my discontent
With the adults in power
With less hesitation now

I
Would not
Quiet down
Stop acting up
Hide my discomfort
So that maybe now
I'd be less afraid to
Show the bad parts of my mind
To show those signs of mental pain

I
Instead
Would make sure
That I could live
As free as I could
Unafraid to fall
Less afraid of power
Maybe not entir'ly free
But enough to want to live now

You say that your friends
Can find a welcoming ear
In their time of need

But I know
Of hundreds of shouting matches
Half as many protested more-than-hugs
Days in and out of manipulation and deceit on both sides
Years of saying "you have no right to feel that way"
Many doged questions
Minutes shouting down every expression that you disproved of
Several iterations of "you'll die alone"
Days and nights hidden in offside rooms for fear
A few good slaps
And a laptop against the wall at age eight
That all demand to differ

I came to a fork
In the one road I knew
A fork unlike others
I had already been through

On each pathway
Stood a strange being
I blinked, rubbing my eyes
Unsure of what I was seeing

I then heard a voice,
Like it came from within,
"How do you know
What is pure and what is sin?

How do you choose?
Are you swayed by the season?
Or are you guided by them,
By belif and by reason?"

Looking ahead of me
Through my internal mayhem
I saw my two guides
Who once worked in tandem

And I began to wonder:
"By whose law do I abide?"
As I thought, so continued
That voice spoke from inside

"In one road stands reason,
And the other, belif
And in this choice
One is your aide, the other a theif."

"So who do I choose?"
I shouted to implore
But that little voice
Left me alone as before

I looked to faith, standing right
Warm and light up ahead
She offered many answers
But claimed knowledge was too much for my head

I stared at reason, standing left
Crisp, clear, and easy to follow
But he offered no definates
Only peices to borrow

So there I stood
Trying to make my thoughts clear
Two full years later
And I still standing here

With Virginia's second largest student population
Four thousand, five hundred, twenty eight kids looking for
Companionship in a confined quarter mile
You would think that it would be quite simple to
Find a person to spend your days around
You would think that it would be simple
To find someone whom you have an
Interest in knowing
To find somebody
With whom you have
Friendship or
Maybe
Love

Like a wolf in the night
Or a deer in it's flight
Or a swallow on favoring winds
Travel swift to the end
Make new choices to send
To the spirits that lurk within

And though we are young
Stories quickly begun
Whirling around the windowless compound
So some block it out
Some start to pout
And some go insane when no one's around

So come out in the day
In this place cast away
Do not believe long held lies
Then finally, we'll see
Between you and me
What the truth is in the gentry's eyes

I seem to be
Continually stuck

Between the worldviews
Of Bradbury and Hawking

Between schedules
Of eight million events and none at all

Between wanting to join in
And feeling like I shouldn't

Between wanting to do everything
And wanting to do nothing

Because even though I often speak
Of finding middle ground
When it becomes personal
It just can't seem to be found

Is there a way
To say goodbye?
One that won't hurt
You and I?

Is there a way
To make a farewell sweet?
Knowing this is the last time
We'll ever meet?

Is there a way
To do this nicely?
To split up with someone
But to do it politely?

Is there a way
To lessen this pain?
In this split
Is there something to attain?

Would anyone even notice
If I were gone?
If I just got up, left
And moved on?
Would anyone know
Would anyone care
If I slipped away
Into the night air

As the leaves and shade surround me
I wander on, an explorer solitary
Beetle graffiti and fertile earth
Capture my attention as I explore dirt
And though I'm called back for mandatory "fun"
My mind still lingers in the shade and the sun

What more must I show you?
You don't even listen
Listen and you might understand
Understand why I'm upset
Upset and confused, that's all
That's all your words are making me

We must remember
That the U.S. is essentially
An experiment

Two minutes of time
Just to find a rhyme
In a student's mind
Reading of punishment and crime
Now when will my time come
Where did it all go
Graduation's almost here
And what do I even know
I've been counting down the years
Since I've entered middle school
Now I'm counting down the weeks
And saying it'll be soon
And before the bell rings
Before time is called
I can just pen in a poem
Before I hit the fall

I remember Nonni's hospital room
I remember nights staring at the moon
I remember the smell of pie
I remember leaving junior high
I remember sailing in a storm
I remember rolling backpacks as a norm
I remember airports and planes
I remember speaking with wax vampire fangs
I remember all of the rain
I remember some of my pain
I remember what I can
I hope I remember who I am

What an era to be alive
When people take spacedives
When scientists engineer better crops like golden rice
When politicians deny the melting of polar ice
When internet surveillance is coming to a peak
When we find answers that took so long to seek
This new era's fashions are young and old
In the face of adversity, protesters become bold
More and more we see environmental protection
And people from all over are making connections
As cities grow with a young world population
We find ourselves perplexed about infrastructure for most nations
Sometimes it seems like nothing changes at all
Then it seems like a revolution from the great to the small
In Dicken's words "it was the best of times
It was the worst of times", but there's plenty of material for a poet's rhymes

It's quite hard to flirt
When your parents and sister
Are between you two

Books should never be
Put in a washing machine
Just trust me on this

Maps are very good
But should that map fail, just ask
For some directions

Campuses are huge
But you soon will find that you
Can walk quite quickly

If weather says shorts
But your family says pants
Trust the weatherman

I envy my dog
Because it seems that she's the
Only one in here
Who isn't affected by
Current politics

Is there a good way to tell someone:
"I love you from the bottom of my heart
I hope what that what you desire is done
And that all of your dreams get a start

But if I spend any more time with you
Beyond what I absolutely must
I'm going to loose my mind and do
Something that even I don't trust"

I wonder if I
Was ever really normal
Well, If I was, I haven't been for years
According to this journal

There's a memory of a long time ago
Or was it a dream? How could I know
It's not as if I could ask you as to wether it's true
As if there were anything asking could do
But than I think of the shouting and it seems
Real enough to run from, to want to cry or scream

Was it really a laptop, or was it a plate
That was thrown against the wall, irate
Or maybe the whole thing never really happened
Maybe I misheard something, I was mistaken
Besides, it was nine years ago, I was too young
To even really realize what was going on
But even back then, I knew I was frightened
When I heard a crash before the fight ended

And some days I wonder if I would feel this way
If it was the man doing this to the woman one day
You're against abuse, and try to call out wife beaters
But you applaud a girl who whacks a guy when he cheats her
And I wonder why, if you say you care
Why you sometimes say things that make me wish I weren't there

And I wonder why you don't respect my space
Walking up to my form like you own the place
And I know you mean well, but could you stop
Sneaking up and hugging me in a way I'd rather not
I know you have good intentions, but why can't you see
That there's a reason I'm starting to get a little jumpy

But these are the things I'll never ask
Because I'm to spineless to find out at last
So here I sit, writing an interwebs litany
With a secret profile on a site you'll never see