I’m told the burden isn’t mine.
That the wreckage is olde,
and those maps were drawn well before I was borne.

I touch the rubble anyway,
and find my fingerprints already in the dust.

As it turns out,
responsibility is not inherited,
but it can be claimed.

A treasure.

I don’t answer for the world before I caused it,
but I should respond while I’m in it.

And my silence?
It brings forth a loud sound.
A bang.

They handed me the answers to the test today,
and I learned that truth doesn’t rust.
It bends, but it does not break
not under its own weight,
under its own scrutiny.
Though it does set me adrift.

Without it, I’m unsure I can steer.
But maybe I can repair.
I can even rebel
not with lies,
but with answers that I wield cleanly.
I could mislead
with truth.
Or with the answers to this test.

There’s a field behind the school
where the grass grows in all directions,
and no compass can agree on which.
Kids say it’s haunted,
but it only remembers
every footprint we've ever made.

I walked there once with a question
tucked behind my tongue,
watched a crow land near a broken sprinkler
like it knew the answer I needed.
It didn’t speak,
but something about the way it stared
felt like a mirror I hadn’t yet broken.

Sometimes we call things “stars”
just because they’re far away.
But I’ve seen you name the birds and fireflies
as if they held real titles and gravity.
Maybe they do.
Maybe that’s why your shoulders still carry
the quiet weight of our constellations
trying to point us true north
in a world that keeps spinning
without our permission.

You have to turn yourself in
Yes, they're looking for you
It's all over the news
No, don't tell me where you are

Is that all true?
Where are you?
Are you coming home?
Never mind, don't tell me where you are

I love you, mom
You have to get away, just get out now
Yes, he's dead. He was a cop, with a wife and kid
Turn yourself in, don't tell me where you are

Engulfed in new memories
Buried too deep to form thanks
"Thank you" would be too constricted
Instead, to you I allow my life and soul

To you:
The peace I can give
Tranquility I pose
Riches and treasures,
Passion I behold
All I can gain...
Or grant, I bestow
On us, our life, and the future untold

I can tell-
I could just tell
You're hard to sum up, Difficult to describe
Not how-
Or who you are
But the Feeling that night
Like Spring after Rain or how April does Shine
Dew Without Dust
With the Air Thin and Fine

I can just tell

I could tell
Your Grandeur of Love
Reached Father then mine
Further than most and Farther than mine
Having no end
Oh Laborious,  Infinite line
In one glimpse at night

I can just tell

I am able to tell
Our Dreams are alike
Not the Same, I dare say-
Congruent in Virtue
Yet Unequal in Size
Passion Far more
Your words Jump Alive

I can just tell

I can tell-
Aspirations Larger
With beliefs Similar to Mine
Our goals Compliment
Now, our Journeys align
If only we had spoke
We would Forever be Entwine
I can just tell