Welcome back Koine,
I bet someone as strong-willed and stubborn as you
Really is enjoying the wild weather you bring

Daughter of Demeter
Your mother's joy this year is brilliant as ever
As flowers bloom from every corner of the earth

Wife of Hades
How perplexing must this season be for you
A reunion and a goodbye at the same time

Persephone
I hope you get a nice tan this year

In college, I had a friend that we called 'dad'
Because he made awful jokes and puns
And he herded us wild things
But whenever we came back
From holidays you could expect
That all of your knickknacks
were on your bed artfully arranged
And when you were down
He would commandeer
My roommate's horse puppet
(Yeah, you read right, she had a horse puppet)
And do voices and 'bite' you
Until you complied

I
I never had a space
A space that was my own
I have four siblings
You're never alone
But, I
Somewhere along the way
   (Rather early on, actually)
I realized that we don't think
The same ways
At all

And I spent most of my life
Having my opinions drowned out
And I just
Never had the space to
Just process
And form what exactly
I believed and what I wanted
From life
Or even
the space to realize
how I felt
and how to process that

I felt like a plant that
sprang up too close to others
And now that I've been transferred
I have a new planter and the right sunlight
And my soil is  nice and damp
And I'm catching up, I'm flourishing
And I'm learning about myself
But I feel so far behind and I
Just wish I had space earlier
Where I felt safe to grow
The way I was meant

No, I don't have a boyfriend
Or a girlfriend for that matter
Why should I be infatuated
With someone I barely know?
I love nature, I love mountains
I love sitting all day in a lean-to
because it's pouring rain mid-June
I love it when I can't quite jump
To the next rock and
Splash!
Oops, I stepped in the stream
I love going over bridges
I love the still quiet moments of
"This is enough for me"
I love imperfect moments made perfect

Many people use diamonds as metaphors for the worth of hard work
Or a 'refining fire' in which pain and effort make you stronger
What they don't talk about is that diamonds aren't that rare anymore
Everyone has their individual struggles
Everyone works hard for their dreams
And everyone loves a happy ending
But the American dream is a dying thing

A diamonds' worth lies in their symbolism, of promise and unity
But even marriage doesn't last very long anymore
My cousin was married for eight days
I guess what I'm wondering is,
What is the worth of a dream?
Does it fade like that of a diamond?

I  often spend my nights unable to sleep
And in them I think of all those people
who have someone to lie beside them
And sometimes I wish I had someone
Whose love could tame the voices inside
Just enough so I could finally get some sleep
And for years I've called this loneliness
But I've heard it said somewhere along the way
That you can only miss something you've had

So, in that case I guess I'm just jealous

Time is irrelevant to me
It passes and yet I do not move
By running from myself I end up
Imprisoned by my inability to decide
Which direction to go
What to do with myself
Who I want to be
So I go to work and do what is
Expected of me
Of someone who is ruled by time
Avoiding my mind
And I stay where I am
As others pass me by,
Not realizing that I have frozen,
That time is not a constraint
For those who are alive but not living