how can everybody walk around a burning building
and act like they don't see it?
don't feel the heat on their skin?
don't smell the putrid smoke?
don't hear the deafening flames?
how can people block out the cry of a child?
how can they ignore the sobs of a depressed teenager?
how do they go on with their lives not bothered by sadness?
please tell me how.
so i can tell them there is a burning building.
so they can cry with the child.
and sob with the teenager
and the world will be filled with wails of togetherness
and the sorrow will be shared
so the building doesn't have to burn
and the child doesn't have to cry
and the teenager doesn't have to be depressed
and we live seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling everything

Today I learned
Family
Does not live under the same roof
Support
Does not have to come from my parents
Friends
Will always be there
Pain
Is only temporary
Love
Is infinitive
And my happiness
Is most important
Above
Everything

Apples sit on branches
all the time that has prospered from the growth that one apple
has been the small window of an unattainable span of seconds and minutes and hours
that has shown the leaves to dance with the wind
the branch to bow
and the roots to grow
the apple ripens into a sharp stain of satin red
to paint the tree with a new color
to illustrate a new beginning
the apple grows heavy
falls
and splatters the ground with love
the grass learns to reach for the sun
the bird grasps the concept of flight
the worm slithers unbothered
but the apple splays the pigment of its love everywhere
the seeds plant
another tree grows
and more apples sit on branches
teaching the leaves to dance with the wind
the branch to bow
and the roots to grow