The darkest hour is near the dawn.

You have these eyes that are brighter than stars;
I'm certain the key to world peace shines in them if I look deep enough.
Your smile that tugs slightly to the left tugs my heart out my chest.
Your heartbeat is the only beat that I dance to darling.
And I know you don't sing emotions like I do, but even still this poem is for you.

But what are chains? I hold myself in this place.

You could have it all,
My empire of dirt.

I am a Christian.
Do not look at me differently,
Do not roll your eyes or scoff.
Do not lump me in with every other Christian
You have ever met
Or heard of.
Do not assume that I am like the Westboro Baptists,
Or that I only believe what I do because of my parents.
Do not question my sanity.
Do not assume you know my views or my reasons,
But please, ask.
Do not suppose I will be extreme,
Or that I live under a rock.
Do not think I am naïve or a saint,
Or that I expect everyone to live
By what I think is right.
Do not presume that I fit your stereotypes, whatever they might be.
Do not take for granted that I have no idea how to have fun.
Do not associate church or my faith with being boring.
Do not suppose that you understand me or the depths of what I believe.


Please just do not assume that because you know one, you know all.
I am a Christian.
Ask me why.
Ask me about my thoughts on the world,
Or on political issues.
I will gladly tell you whatever you’d like to know.
Ask me about the wonderful moments of God I see around me.
Ask me what evidence I have.
Tell me all about what you believe.
Talk to me without reservations or awkwardness.
Ask me what traditions my family has, or how we celebrate holidays.
Ask me what makes me different.
Laugh with me about the children I babysit during Bible study.
Cry with me when someone passes away.
Look with me to see the ways God is working in the world.
Give thanks with me before dinner.
Join me at church one day to see what it’s like for yourself.
Love with me all the lost people in the world.
Love yourself.
I am a Christian.

All those years we were together,
And I only knew you for a summer.

Some days just
require a little poetry.

The air I breathe
is all the inspiration
I could ever need.

But loving you certainly helps.

sadness is a poem on its own.

You've got a storm in your eyes
A fire in your heart
And your fingertips make me
shiver

How can I love you
when I don't know you?
Your laughter is the harmony in every song,
your smile is the watermark on all my photographs,
but I couldn't tell you how your tears make me feel.

Your eyebrows crinkle when you're angry,
Not that I'd know.
You only show me your best, cleanest parts.
Yet I have given you everything.

I cannot tell you that I love you back
when all I've ever known is your smooth surface.

she bleeds ink and
he doesn't bleed at all

I think in song lyrics and
speak in scattered syllables.

Wait for me, my love.
Purgatory takes some time
when life is well lived.

I used to think the sun only shone
When you were near.

Well, that's a load of crap.

Lately, it only rains
When you are near.

My eyes have raindrops too.

I loved myself so much more
When you were near.

You were supposed to love me.

Love never used to hurt like this because
You were near.

Why can't it be like it used to be?
Why couldn't you just trust me?