When I met you, you were standing/leaning/being awkwardly there,
in the corner of the room.
Not quite invisible, but you didn't really stand out either.
You just sort of... were.
And I noticed.

I noticed because there was something unmistakable in your, you-ness.
Something that did not fit with your ironic tee-shirt and dark mop of hair.
One thing that stood out from your quiet still frame.
But it wasn't the way you seemed knowingly amused by the goings-on around you.
And it wasn't the way you shifted your weight so subtly but still animated, almost like you weren't real.
It wasn't even that quick smile that split your face in two when your gaze met mine.

No, more then all of that, what caught me off guard was your deceptively blue eyes.

There is beauty.
And the world in which we live is obsessed with finding it, framing it, exposing and overexposing it.
We crave it.
Because it is the very essence of what we are.
Broken up, crumbled pieces of beauty.
Not quite sparkling like diamonds,

Because we have lost our light.
Hiding in the dark we fade in and out between what we were made for and all that we are afraid of.
We hide from our own beauty.
Scared to fully expose ourselves.
Scared to shine.
But sometimes the strobe lights hit and for a moment we're covered in sequins.

At some point we decided that we were not beautiful.
In that moment we settled for less than radiant.
And since then we can't quite justify that decision.
So we look for the beauty all around us.
We drink down and drown in the ideas of what we think it is or it might be.

We want to know it and touch it and hold it,
And so we pull at one another, grasping at the beauty we see in others.
Trying to make it our own.
But it isn't.


Never settle for someone else's beauty.
Step into the light and know your own.

The streets are paved with garbage
and the air is thick with smog.
In a world of repetition,
ring my bell, I'm Pavlov's dog.

The beggars have no hands,
and the soldiers cannot see.
A flag hangs in my prison cell,
in the land of the free.

The children never cry out
and their footsteps never fall.
'Cause we define what's called a life,
and some are just too small.

Politicians map our future
in their picture perfect plan;
a world corrupt by power,
which in turn corrupts the man.

Our morals are immoral,
and our values have no worth.
It's nature versus nurture,
but we've known to lie since birth.

We're taught to love our neighbors,
but in turn neglect our own:
And so our "huddled masses",
huddle desperately alone.

We're serving in the kitchens,
while they're starving in the streets,
somewhere amidst the chaos formed
where sick and striving meets.

Leaders shout, "We have no money!",
from atop their golden hill.
While we, the workers down below,
just spin the workers' wheel.

Our rights are plainly written,
but we don't know how to read;
and so our every breath's abused
by those who choose to lead.

We're warned of other cultures
from our hole deep in the ground,
but if we stood up eye to eye
acceptance might be found.

They said that times were a-changing,
they say that times have CHANGEd.
Yet, still I see the bold outline
of social class arranged.

No hourglass turned sideways.
Time will not reach a halt,
but if we leave this world unchanged
it will be all our fault.

Instead, let's use our actions
like ripples in the sea
to build a world far better than
the one we've seen it be.

There's that saying,
"Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words can never hurt me."

It's true.

Cause words, words don't just wound.
A single word can bring utter devastation or long-awaited salvation.
No. Words never hurt. They transform.
They create, they grow.
We are all, after all, just big fleshy piles of words.
We're defined and redefined and undefined until we can't defy what we are.
We are words, searching for words, living on words,
waiting for words, to bring us to words.
Words can be violently beautiful and poignantly painful, and powerful, and poetic,
and pure.

Sticks and stones are toys.
Words are tools,
and tombs;
They get tied together 'til tongues get twisted and truth is torn,
but they can be pulled apart 'til they perfectly portray a point...
And my point is this,
that life is nothing more than words,
*just words well-worn.

The first time you said it, it was raining.
I'd just taken my final, and had that sick, certain feeling that I'd failed it.
We were standing by your car and somewhere in the
midst of my rant about unfair grading practices,
and sexist Psych professors...
You. Just.  Said it.

And all I could think was,
I wonder when grades will be posted?

The next time, we were sitting on my couch.
We had just finished dinner and were watching some old movie.
I remember Jimmy Stewart's voice distinctly,
So I know I picked the movie.
You were tickling me, and right in that moment when I lose all control
and give in to the giggles...
You said it again, mostly to yourself, but I heard.

And all I could think was,
I wonder if Jimmy Stewart was ticklish?

The last time, we were eating Italian.
I had gotten marinara sauce on my favorite blue dress,
and as I was trying to get it out, I spilled my water everywhere.
You just laughed that booming laugh of yours,
and then your eyes got dark, serious.
You took my hands in yours and watching my face closely,
you said it again.

And all I could think was,
I wonder if lemon juice will lift this stain?

The only time I said it, was on a Thursday.
Lunch had just ended and we were standing by the swings.
It was really windy so you pushed my hair out of my face.
That's when I almost said it,
but you started to speak.
I just smiled.

My smile must have hurt you,
because you looked away when you told me we wanted different things.
And I didn't say anything.
Instead, I watched you walk back towards the white brick building.
When you were almost there, you paused and started to turn back to me...
then stopped yourself and went inside.

And in that moment, when you were safely out of my reach,
I said it.
Because it was all I could feel since the day that we started.

No one ever heard me,
*but I love you, too.

The Circle Spins as the years diminish and I evolve from child, to youth, to adult....
Deep forest that once held the the new seedling of spring... has now lost it's leaves, and seen many a harsh winter..
Waves hit the beach slowly wearing away what is left of the sand castle of childhood... shrinking back into the sea... becoming a part of a new body altogether
memory fades like a sunset on a warm summer evening... disappearing into the horizon... before it's gone altogether...
Love remains... stronger and more forgiving with every rising moon... a gentle kiss a warm embrace... Truth.. Trust.. never dieing only reaching forever towards higher heights
Unfailing faith... in family.. in friendship.. in FOREVER... as a dog panting at his master's feet... a type of never ceasing reverance and adoration...
Eternity that lasts only a moment... and yet has always been and will always be...
I play but a small part in this spinning wheel... perhaps not even time itself shall look back and remember me
but death forever stands in a not so distant corner beckoning to me with it's long inviting hands... welcoming so that i may recieve my fate
A constant... and yet time remains... and what is time... but forever a moment lost...perhaps tomorrow is nothing more than a yesterday of the future
and yet we walk through the deep forest.. we play on gentle beaches... we watch the setting sun... we continue to spin the infinite wheel...we love.. and we live
if for no other reason.. then because... WE CAN...

This twisting writhing maze
of innocence in confusion
distorted by the hands of time
stripped of all emotion.
The hands that beg for life
hold guns, and knives, and weapons.
This world that's breaking day by day
through the arrogance of actions.
Eternity hangs by a thread
and it's breaking from the ignorance,
while the whole world teeters on a scale
that's tipping in the balance.
Nations are starving.
Wars being fought.
Pestilence.
Famine.
Death.
Hatred building and guiding cultures
with every shallow breath.
People are preaching.
People are judging.
People should hang their heads.
Can't we try loving?
Or try accepting?
How many more will go dead??
Difference of color, or beliefs, or thought..
lead to anger and hatred and war.
Nation's are bombing,
people are dying,
but what are we really fighting for?
Where is the love?
Where is the peace?
Where is care for your fellow man?
The whole world is sitting,
no one is moving,
when will someone please take a stand??