Sitting idly in a garden filled with stones. A Samurai looks at a single Cherry tree. He stares deeply into the Pink blossoms and listens to the gentle breezes blow. He has his hand on his sword and waits patiently. Finally in a single moment, a single blossom is torn free. With one motion of his hand he pulls glistening steel and cuts through the air. He captures the single blossom on the tip of his sword, then pulls it back close so that he can see. Truly magnificent he thinks to himself, how unique is this single flower that sits before me.

I walk on the edge of insanity. I grab at straws of hope. I have tried everything to solve my problems, but I cannot make them go away. Now I sit on the edge of the abyss and look into the eternal night. I look at the scars on my body, so  many times I have tried to feel alive. Now I am numb from the inside out, my mind can no longer focus. On the edge of life itself, perhaps I can finally find answers or at least know peace. The voices scream at me and I try to shut them out. I slip into a coma and at this point there is no doubt. I have tiptoed over the line and now it is just a wait and see. Will I wake up or will I end it all, the answer is no longer up to me.

I refuse to eat but once a day, I drink water and work out in every possible way. I choose my clothes carefully. I watch all of my friends. I look at magazines to see the latest trends. I pinch myself to see if I have an ounce of fat. I must not gain any weight, I cannot have that. I want to be accepted, so I aim to please. I try not to offend I think carefully before I speak. I stand straight and never slouch. I sleep just enough but not too much. I am trying to be what is expected of me. I want to be perfect you see.

My mind slips out of consciousness as I lay on the bed with a needle in my arm. Down down the rabbit hole I go, not knowing where the journey will end. I slip past the realm of reality and visions find me, nightmares to some and salvation to others, who can really know what they will find on a trip like this? I am lost in the black pit of my own soul. My demons fight and claw at me as I go on my journey. Each time I descend into the abyss, I take one step closer to the edge. How long can I continue down this path? How much longer can I live this way? No one really knows for sure, but I have let the Jeannie out of the bottle and now I am not sure I can put it back. So I will lay here as I become numb and cold, as my heart races and my breathing becomes shallow. I will fall into the darkness, in the hope that I can find an escape from myself.

The princes of the earth gather their wealth unto them. The kings muster their armies and curse the sky. The heathen rage and mock the heavens. They heap praises upon each other and seek to control the world. In all aspects of life they insert themselves. The prepare for a war that they will never fight and contrive plans that are already known. In secret chambers they speak in silent tongues, where angels listen and stand ready. Silver and Gold are prized as signs of power, but the truth is that their next breath is not their own. In a kingdom not made with hands, their creator sits and waits as they prepare. A life ends there a city falls here and yet the heathen rage on. They proclaim that they can save themselves when actually they can't change one whit of their destiny. In the end all they seek to try comes to naught, for who among mortal humans can stand against God?

I am one of many and I am no one. I am everywhere and I am no where. I am your neighbor, your brother, or your sister. I am responsible for no one yet I am accountable to everyone. I am a citizen and yet I am an individual. I have my own thoughts and feelings, yet I am surrounded by a group identity and idea. I am not sure where I came from and I am not sure where I will go. I only know that I am here and now. I am in need and I am giving. I am poor and I am rich. I am many things and I am one thing. What I will be next is not up to me, yet I must decide what I will become. All is a paradox and yet all is clear. If you understand me, then you are wise indeed. I am a human being and I matter. So give me the respect that I am due and know that I am your equal. I breathe the same air as you and drink the same water. I eat the same food so that I may exist. When you understand who I am then you will know who you are and then perhaps we will better understand each other and the world will begin to make sense again.

The future is not written, the end is not yet known. In a world that is confused and in turmoil like a boiling *** of water. We leap forward in knowledge but fall behind in our humanity. We isolate ourselves behind electronic walls, but give away more of who we are everyday. No one knows for sure from one day to the next what the next great idea will be or where the next catastrophe will come from. Humanity hangs by a thread at any given time. Ideologies compete for the spotlight and ideas push and pull at each other. Meanwhile, there are those who get left out. There masses of people who seem unable to pull the fruit from the tree of prosperity. Perhaps we should put life on hold and let our humanity catch up with our technology. When everyone understands how the new world works and we are all on the same page, then perhaps we can all leap forward together and in one fell swoop, we can all reach for the stars.