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

You ask me why I'm so giggly
When the evening comes about
I laugh at what you cannot see
Until the lights are out

And when you keep on asking why
I keep on bitting on the lie
I've heard faking it is the same as winning
So I'll be a champion if I keep grinning
There are so many secrets I keep out of the light
But, close to freedom, I giggle before night

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?

According to this book
You can't throw knives as a Girl Scout individual
However, the book neglects to mention
Uranium, cadavers, and cult rituals

There's a scene in "The Hunt for Red October"
When the Americans have the Russians come over
And to lower the tension and show who they are
The men passed around a few strong cigars
Well, if you want to do that where I'm from
You pass your classmates a pack of gum

Eros
Someone who tastes like
Ramune and Faygo, smells
Like Shenandoah

Mania
Waiting for six months
Only to find that you are
Eighteen and fourteen

Philia
Eyes just like snowmelt
Soft, cool, and fresh in the spring
Small signs of some hope

Ludus
A homecoming dance
Bumping bodies in a crowd
When your date ditches

Agape
The news surrounds us
Against suburban ap'thy
We are fighting back

Storge
Speaking of the sea
Advanced chemistry, and of
Secrets kept from mom

Pragma
One year of dating
But the sun and earth go back
Farther than we do

Philautia
Maybe we'll see it
Like a rose blooming forth from
Torrential blizzards

Tomorrow my classmates
Might question what they've seen
When I come in, with no explanation
And my hair deep green

I'm walking down a path I know
I got the volume on full blast
I've still got thousands of verses to go
I intend to make each last
But someone walks up to me
Telling me to cease and desist
I begrudgingly comply
But in my mind, I say this:

Don't talk to me now, my headphones are on
I'm dancing in my mind to my song
My feet match the kicker, my heart beats the snare
In this moment, I don't have a care
So while I've got my headphones on
Please take note, I'll carry on

It's the end of the day, I'm finally home
All homework and chores have been done
So I walk up to my room, warm and alone
And soon the phone's concert has begun

So I say
Don't talk to me now, my headphones are on
I'm dancing in my mind to my song
My feet match the kicker, my heart beats the snare
In this moment, I don't have a care
So while I've got my headphones on
Please take note, I'll carry on

I've got two more hours on this ride
Through a long and quiet night
But I've got a little help by my side
To get me to the morning light

So I say
Don't talk to me now, my headphones are on
I'm dancing in my mind to my song
My feet match the kicker, my heart beats the snare
In this moment, I don't have a care
So while I've got my headphones on
Please take note, I'll carry on

Don't talk to me now, my headphones are on
I'm dancing in my mind to my song
My feet match the kicker, my heart beats the snare
In this moment, I don't have a care
So while I've got my headphones on
Please take note, I'll carry on

Sometimes the weather
Is a foe you can't beat.
The library just closed
"Due to excessive heat".

So Hesiod looked around on an ancient Grecian day
He looked at all the rowdy youth doing things their way
With their sundials and writing
And their chariots like lightning
He concluded that youth were going the wrong way

Why is it that when I'm with you
I can never seem to be myself?
Why does talking with you instantly
Turn me into someone else?
I know this arrangement is a little unstable
But I'll keep it in place as long as I'm able
Because if you saw all the parts of me
All those things I don't let you see
I know you'd react quite badly
So I gaurd my secrets quite madly

I know one day this will fall apart
One day I will have to reveal my heart
But there's a place I need to be in by then
So, until then, I just hope nothing happens
Because if that wall comes tumbling down
And I'm in a bad place for my secrets to be found
I'd never see all of those dreams I have through
So despite the foundational cracks, I still hide from you

And I know things will never be the same again
When I've changed so drastically from beginning to end
And despite all of the advice that everyone's said
I want to get to my goal, so I keep my secrets in my head

One of the best things in life
Is hiking up a massive hill
Reaching the top and seeing the light
As water cascades into a pond where birds trill
And you set down your pack to breathe
And wade knee deep in mountain forest air
And then lie back against cool stones in ease
And bend back to let the current rinse your hair

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

Bug spray smells better
Once you start to think of it
As camper's perfume

The moon's outline is always crisper
And the stars seem to multiply
When I'm away from the city air
Beneath a clearer sky
And sometimes I don't notice
(I'm more worried about the bears)
But when I can let my guard slip
I never really want to leave there

"Grandma, we're learning
About twenty-sixteen in
History class, so

I wanted to ask
What was it like living then?
Was it like the books?"

At which point, we all
Will sigh and say "It really
Was a dumpster fire."

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul*
It read, a dove caught and crucified
Over two pages whole

I hope that one day I will be
Like the people who inspired me

I hope that one day the world will see
What it is to be peaceful and free

I hope that people will become
Understanding of everyone

I hope that I can become someone
That inspires the others beneath the sun

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

How can I believe you'll take me seriously
When you joke that you'll sneak ****** into my coffee

How can I believe you'll listen to my pitch
When you, arguing with my sister, call her a *****

How can I believe all these compliments you say
When wether or not you'll shout at me depends on the day

How can I show you
that this is what Germany
Was like in '35?

How great it would be
For you and for me
If we could simply be together
Honest and free

How great it would be
If the world could just see
That we're all human beings
You, them, and me

I looked at my planner
To see my schedule in a glimpse
On election day, a month old note read
"Cookie sales and a possible apocalypse"

When it comes to making new friends
I have three methods to achieve those ends:

You can join a club, site, or organization
To find others with similar inclinations

You could wait for a sociable one to come by
And follow them once they take you by their side

Or you can join in on a string of crude jokes
And make friends with your fellow weird blokes

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"

Is
It wrong
That the thing
I miss when you're gone
Is the television's dull hum
The silence is lonely, but the absence is relief
That I can walk down into the kitchen without akward words or my *** getting grabbed

I
Turned on
NPR
And I felt at ease
More at home at night on my own
Than I've felt in a long time, am I so wrong if I

Can't
Say that
I'm upset
Somehow lost when you
Aren't at home in the evening hours?

And
That I'm
Not upset
That I don't have to
Justify every move and twitch
That I prefer to talk to the man who I can't judge?

If
It is
Wrong for me
To think like I do
(Though you do claim to read my mind)

I'm
Not sure
I can show
You who I am now

I've always found it bizzare
How people describe brutality
As animalistic

Did animals create
The nuclear missile
Showers of zyklon B
The middle passage
The inquisition
The gladiator games?

No, these horrors
Are purely man-made

This brutality
Is not animalistic
It is human.

we hate
we love
we wage war
we make peace
we commit ******
we save lives
we ignore issues
we find answers to our problems
we commit genocide
we save nations
we feel
we go numb
we enslave others
we free each other
we lie blatantly
we reveal the truth
we sneak around
we march right in
we run in fear
we stand up and fight
we are thoughtless
we're analytical
we are intelligent
we're emotional
we can all hurt
and we can all heal.
we are humanity.

People often speak
Of mankind and nature
As two separate things

But the way I see it
We are not opposites
But rather complimentary colors in the wheel

People often talk of natural beauty
Or man-made art
But I find it more beautiful
When the two mix

picture this:
The sun is rising over a marsh
Against the vibrant hues lies the silhouette
Of a shuttle on the launch pad
Sleek, modern, impressive
But yet, not intrusive
Rather, complimentary in its juxtaposition
And its coexistence

People act as though wilderness and civilization
Can't coexist, as if they are at war
I'm fact, we both need each othe
And through our shared past and planet
We are one and the same

It's easy to say
You'd take a bullet for a friend
When no one has
A gun held up to their head

Ignorance is only bliss
When you're the one the effects miss

People keep saying "Just be yourself!"
But they act disappointed when you're not someone else

"Why don't you ask for help
If you know you're not alright?"

Because we all know what happens
To cornered dogs who bite

Whoever said "the truth will set you free"
Never had secrets like you or like me

"You shouldn't be afraid unless you have something to hide"
Excuse me for trying to choose who gets to see my mind
"I see your Facebook, and I'm allowed to look at whatever I want anyway"
Well, in that decision, I didn't exactly have a say

What I say is that
I don't need friends because I'm
An introvert girl

And that's mostly true
But in all honesty, I'd
Like some companions

The full truth is that
I don't need friends who will joke
About mental health

I don't need friends who
Use "******" and "******" as
As ******* nicknames

I don't need friends who
Create drama and then say
That they hate it all

I don't need friends who
Will lie to me, and then go
Gossip about me

I don't need a circle
Of friends that gets so complex
It becomes a web

And to be honest
I've been, in the past, guilty
Of all of these things

But I don't need to
Deal with these things all the time
In a group of friends

I just want friends who
I can simultaneously
Be dumb and smart with

Friends whom I can be
Existential with, and yet
Prank other kids with

Friends whom I don't feel
The constant need to hide or
Be perfect around

Unfortunately
Those kinds of friends seem to be
In short supply here

So far I have three
And I only really see
Them three times a month

Call me a homebody
Say I'm antisocial, but
That's just how I feel

If a tree falls in a forest
Does it make a sound
When the woods are open and
There's only three people around

One of them remembers it
As clear as it was day
Yet as to wether it was real or a dream
She cannot really say

The second has no memory
But he wouldn't say it didn't occur
And he has the vauge memories of after
When little echoes could be heard

And the third may know the answer
But the other two can't ask
Because going down that road
Is taking the devil out of the flask

So did the tree really fall?
Or more important still
Can anything they remember be trusted
Wen they tell their stories as they will

Some people say that mass shootings
Wouldn't happen if both sides had guns
They say that a vigilante crossfire
Can protect our nation's daughters and sons

To those people I will tell
A story told to me by my family
About a situation exactly like that
And what the true outcome would be

There was a woman, one of my cousins
From somewhere on my family tree
I've never met her, but my parents know her
And she is related to me

This young woman met a man
And eventually they were engaged
But what happened next definately was
Where things took a turn for the strange

See, my cousin decided to move four hours away
With her fiance once they were married
This would require her to change her job
And the responses to this were varied

In particular my cousin's boss
Had a rather bizarre objection
When she told him of this, he confessed
That, for her, he harbored an affection

My cousin, of course, moved anyways
Though she and her husband were very concerned
And they were shocked to find her boss stalking her
As into their lives he returned

So her husband went to the local sheriff
And told him what was happening
About how his wife's old boss followed them
To the point where it became maddening

The sheriff told him he would help
That he would look into what could be done
And he also said they'd be safer
If the man got himself a gun

So my cousin's husband did that
Learned how to fire a shot
Then one day the old boss met them
In an empty parking lot

The fighting escalated quickly
To tensions it had never reached before
The man pulled out his gun, and told his wife to run
Into the nearby Wal-Mart store

The boss had brought a gun as well
And this is the ending that I shall tell
A shot to the stomach and a shot to the head
By the end of the night, both men were dead

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 shouldn't go there, young child,
For there are things I'd rather you didn't find."

I agreed politely and smiled
And thought "If only you could read my mind."

"One day, you'll grow up
And you'll make a lot of friends
Or maybe you won't
Maybe you'll just have a few tight buddies
But if anyone tries to change you
you don't need them
You're amazing the way you are"
I told her

She looked up at me
With large, doeful eyes
Nuzzled me and mooed as if to say
"I'm not sure what you just said
But I think I understood it"
As I rubbed her head and ears

At least I can give life advice to a Jersey heifer
Before my program ends and I go back home

Hello ma'am, may I
Have a children's meal and
A light Budweiser

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

Lying under waves of nightime heat lighting
I sit tight and try to stop my mind's  infighting
They say that a bounce back is helped by relaxing
But I'm three months in it and it's still collapsing
I've got one more week to lighten the relapsing
And I'm so tired of sitting and waiting to see
If I can somehow even fix this bizarre psyche
And as I try and as I fail to sleep
I keep realizing I'm in too deep

Some days I wonder if I'm just a distraction
From the relationship's latest course of action
When I'm not held up as a gifted prodigy
I'm just your problem child, one best left sight unseen
Upon wishing I could make myself weep
I realize again I'm in too deep