Hibiscus flowers are cups of fire,
(Love me, my lover, life will not stay)
The bright poinsettia shakes in the wind,
A scarlet leaf is blowing away.

A lizard lifts his head and listens —
Kiss me before the noon goes by,
Here in the shade of the ceiba hide me
From the great black vulture circling the sky.

The way to her heart,
Is through respect,
You want to love her,
You need to love her friends,
You need to love her family,

Before you ever ask her,
Ask her father,
Show him,
That you are the man that respects him,
That you respect his daughter,

Get his permission to date,
Get his permission to be serious,
Get his permission to marry her,

Wherever life takes you,
Wherever loves takes you,
Respect her,
She is fragile,
She is precious,
She is the most valuable thing that you will ever have.

Love her as if you would never love again,
Kiss her as if it is your last,
Hold her as to comfort her,
Look her in the eyes when you tell her you love her,

Respect the things she says,
Her heart only trusts so many times,
Don't use all your chances to make her happy or she will find someone who will,

As the quote goes,

Protect her like a daughter,
Respect her like a mother,
Love her like a wife.

Be

Responsible,
Empower her,
Support her,
Personalize her problems,
Enrich her life,
Communicate,
Together live life

Dear future,
I am not afraid of you,
Life is searching for the rainbow at the end of every storm,
And from every setback, and every letdown thrown my way,
I will rise up like a Phoenix from the ashes of my own ruin and demise,
And, my dear future,
I will make mistakes,
But from these mistakes I will only grow,
To know that I am okay,
Because If life was with out mistakes we'd all just be wandering travelers on a straight and joyless road to nowhere,
And dear future, this may be hard to believe, but darkness does not exist,
It is merely the absence of light,
and sorrow just the absence of a happiness that always shines through,
And when all the pain and bad in the world is washed away,
all that will be left is love and beauty,
Because between every cloud there is a silver lining
And after sadness and grief there is only hope.
Hope in every mother and father,
Hope in every daughter and son,
Because my dear future,
We are not afraid.
And together, the rainbow we are trying to find isn't so far after all

I wish we started with tears
For becoming strangers
and no longer knowing the rhythm of the other's heart
And moved to angry rants
Spewing brand new feelings of hatred
Though we're not sure where they came from
Progressing to the closeness of intertwined bodies
Always feeling the cadence of one another
To being so in love
That the thought of the other makes you flush with enamor
Moving then to late night talks
About life and the universe
And flowers and chocolate
Because what's more cliché?
Then to sweet love
Shown through holding sweaty hands
And wanting to spend every moment in contact
Then gradually spreading apart
Becoming tentative but appreciating every time you touch
Swallowing every word you ever said to them
And letting theirs drain from your ears
So that you drift safely away from each other
I wish we started with tears
And ended with "Hi, nice to meet you."

The stars are beautiful from the beach-
Especially on this moonless night
Bright and sparkling, every pinpoint
Reflected on the black water,
Dancing with the soft motion
Of windswept waves
The same sea breeze tousling my hair

They look almost close enough to touch
To reach out and pluck
Right from the inky black bay
To hold like some errant firefly
Far from home

Standing upon the silken sand
Feeling it work its way between my toes
I begin to walk toward the lights
A siren call beating within my brain

Just a little closer…

Quickly
The waves lap at my feet
The soft caress of the water
Gentle and welcoming

Another step, another step
My intrusion rippling against the break
Stars dancing farther from my fingers
Still so tantalizingly close

Just a little closer…

Farther, deeper
The warm silk of the bay
Enveloping me like
A lover’s arms
A mother’s hug
Comforting and calming

Almost there, just a little more…

My feet no longer touch
The shifting sands below
Yet still
I move forward
Borne away by the tide

Floating, fighting to grasp
Just one burning pinprick
Of starlight
To feel its warmth within my palm

Just a little closer…

Floundering, fishing for
One final, futile touch
(I’m sinking)
Arms outstretched
Reaching toward those
Teasing
Tantalizing
Stars
No longer sure where they lie
(And oh, they lie)
Surf or sky
And still they sing

Just a little closer…