If only love
Lasted as long as
These fragile cases
We call bodies.

Instead,
Like simmering water
It reaches boiling point;
Slowly evaporating,
Leaving a cool, bare surface.

Money
Doesn't make
The world go around;
Empathy does.

In an ideal world,
Life and love
Are not ephemeral.

My mother treats sick people for a living;
very sick people with cancer.

She is the strongest person I know;
my rock in stroms of tears and heartbreak.

One day I heard her sobbing in her room
when she thought no one was listening:

A 14 year old boy had died in her care,
and I watched as she drowned in her own helplessness.

So I said nothing and wrapped my arms around my sobbing mother
and let her be a child for once
in the arms of her own daughter.

There is still so much to see;
do not feel blinded.
There is still so much to do;
do not say you're bored.
There are still so many strangers to meet;
do not feel alone.
There are still so many choices to make;
do not feel trapped.
There is still so much to feel;
do not feel sad.

There are still so many places to go;
do not stop now.

Your kisses
Leave my lips
Stinging.

Oh how delectably
Electric.

I didn't know
I was your puppet
On a string:

You tossed me
Turned me
Made me swoon
To your every word.

I didn't know
I was your puppet
Until you cut
The strings,
And I fell face-down
Into what I thought
Was love.