If you are uncomfortable when you look in the mirror,
keep in mind:
We spent thousands of years
trying to convince the earth
she was flat.

We wrote her maps as evidence of the things we saw;
and she believed them.
She cried tsunamis, and had earthquake breakdowns.

Keep in mind: the Sun never gave up hope.
The earth will keep spinning and breathing
the star-dusty space void of encouragement.

Next time you look in the mirror
and second-guess your potential divinity,
remember you will keep shining and living.

Because the Sun is out there
believing in you,
compensating for lack of the human capacity
to treat each other empathically.

You don’t need proof or approval
to be exactly what you are;
Eventually everyone will see
your infinite beauty.

Love like the sun
Loves the earth
Ever since they met
They dance every day

The sun makes the earth
Look on the brighter side
The earth gives the sun
A reason to wake up

Love like the earth
Loves the sun
Because the earth isn’t distracted
By the stars and the moon

There's no way I can pay you back
But my plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated

I can always depend on my mama
And when it seems that I'm hopeless
You say the words that can get me back in focus
When I was sick as a little kid
To keep me happy there's no limit to the things you did
And all my childhood memories
Are full of all the sweet things you did for me
And even though I act crazy
I gotta thank the Lord that you made me
There are no words that can express how I feel
And I appreciate, how you raised me
And all the extra love that you gave me
I wish I could take the pain away
If you can make it through the night there's a brighter day
Everything will be alright if ya hold on
It's a struggle everyday, gotta roll on

There's no way I can pay you back
But my plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated

I’m not good at being forward
I have this habit of becoming disordered
I let my emotions change the color of my sleeve
In my aspirations I hope to find belief
I walk through jungles and rainforests
Once in a while I see through the canopy
Into the skies of my memories
And request that stars dance to the rhythm of us
I keep them alive to avoid the gathering of dust
My memories, caught in the Pensieve of your eyes
Have ignored all the times I told myself lies
I may not be your ideal Superman
But I’d accept Peter Pan if you’ll go with me to Neverland
I’ve rarely been so captivated by a girl
Sure, Zooey Deschanel is quirky in New Girl
And Emma Watson bewitched me from the start
Anna Kendrick was perfect in Pitch Perfect
Alex Morgan is the luckiest 13 I’ve ever seen
But I choose you! To fill my canteen
You quench my thirst when the loneliness dries me
I was not made to walk in a desert
My heart is an amphibian
Living like a Floridian in the ice-cold tundra we call Rexburg
You still need the sun, no matter how much it snows
I’ll trudge on in the jungle; dormant in the night
I’ll carry on with you in mind, until the time is right
Once I’ve faced death, or even a spider
Then, I think I’ll top the greats; George of the Jungle, Aslan, Mogly, Tarzan, Batman, Peter Pan, Harry Potter, Genghis Kahn, Michael… Jackson or Jordan
They’re all kings and I’ll be in their league
As I shake off the fatigue and find courage in you
To make it through the awkward moment of simply saying
“You’re a real kind of gorgeous”
In that chorus, played on my rhythm of heartbeats
I found my way out of the back streets
From deep in the jungle I’ve come to know as Fear
A jungle that disappears when your presence is near
Sometimes I have to stop walking, stop thinking
I feel like I’m on the verge of something spectacular
Anything normal might ruin that

Wife,
        That’s a term I have been waiting to use for my entire life. I wasn’t always the best at searching for you. I was young and mildly ambitious growing up; other things got in the way because I never knew how much I could love you.
        If only I had known.
        I’ve told you most of my stories: my days playing sports, the endless reading list I had at my bedside table, and the sleepless nights thinking I would never find you.
        I’m eternally grateful that God allowed our paths to cross at that bookstore – how ironic that I was looking for books about love and I found you.
        My life taught me to question and second-guess many things: marriage, relationships, and the future.
        I had let my doubts and expectations reach into my pockets of hope and faith, stealing my motivation to succeed.
        Some would say I was justified in being a stoic.
        Not you.
        Before I met you, I was full of silly ideas and visions of how the world was. Those things – doubt, disappointment, failure – may be in the world, but they don’t define the world.
        Or me.
       I’m glad I questioned what was shinning so bright in a dimly lit bookstore. I’m glad I saw you.
        Holding a flashlight.

Always,
Yours

I never understood “made in God’s image” until I saw her.
Anyone who’s seen her has higher expectations for what heaven looks like.

We’re both sensitive enough to know what love feels like,
and reasonable enough to know that it can be broken.

The first time you use a new toothbrush is nothing like the first time you kiss a girl,
But I still love them both.

Her laugh is a paradox; an outsider would think she either just said the cleverest thing ever or she wishes she could retract it faster than it was said.
Only I know it’s simply because it’s beautiful. It’s easily my favorite language.

I have considered wearing a wiretap so I could go back and listen to all of our conversations again. And I hope that it picked up her heartbeat. She told me, it’s beating exactly like life should sound like.

She offers to iron any wrinkled clothes. I don’t have any. But I have a wrinkled heart.
I thought it was made into origami but it’s just a wadded ball that missed the wastebasket.

The way she dances to hip-hop shows her versatility,
yet you can tell she doesn’t do this every day; but she still dances.

I’m almost too nervous to hug her - knowing it will have to end.
Whenever I let go, I feel like I made a mistake.

Her voice trails off into silence,
like an hourglass that’s trying to hold itself together.

I like that “click-clack” of her boots.
It lets me know I’m next to someone really going places.

She goes to the mini mart with me even when she doesn't want to get anything,
besides more time together.

Leaves are a little bit like girls
When I see a really crunchy looking leaf
I want to march up to it and step on it
Hear that sweet sound of spring’s death
Bringing way to autumn's beauty
With all her vivid colors
The changing trees swaying
In the chilling breeze

Leaves are a little bit like girls
When I see a really pretty girl
I want to march up to her and say something catchy
Something smooth
Something groovy, like,
“Hey darling.”
“Congratulations on your face. It’s beautiful.”
Caught off guard by such forward bravery
She’d be taken aback by my chivalry
Opening the door to opportunity

Although leaves are a little bit like girls
There are distinct differences
And I know you can all be my witnesses
A leaf is waiting to be crushed
Like a back waiting to be popped into place
Girls aren’t so fond of ginger boys
Or even ginger men
To come straight up and lift them on the pedestal of admiration
Girls are shy too; it's not just me
I simply want to say
Something to make her smile
Like, “I want to talk with you a while”

Leaves are a little bit like girls
No matter how hard you try to rake them in
They blow away in something
As light as the wind

1.     I really tried
2. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough
3. Why did I always think everything was about me?
4. You were my angel
5. My demons were too strong
6. I never look people in the eyes because I'm afraid they'll see through my windows and see that there's not light inside
They'll see my secret pain
The monsters gain
Persuasion in the argument
If I should live or die
7. The mask wasn’t supposed to stay on forever but people seemed to like it better than my sadness and sadness doesn’t always cooperate with my plans. Like sometimes sadness just wants to stretch his legs across my face leaving traces that look like tired eyes and furrowed brows. Sadness, like water, will take the path of least resistance from the world to heart and back. Self-endulgend, sadness begs for hosts without every bothering to host the party because sadness doesn’t mind if he overstays his welcome.
8. I was 17 when he died, it has been eight years
9. If I can't win the fight to stay
If I lose and go my way
I have to believe things will be OK
Because your grief won't come
From the fact that I am gone
Maybe you'll think about what
We could have done to better get along
10. You won’t often think of me
So let me go, let me be free
Your mind is the sun
Confidence and clean
11. My mind is a terror
That doesn't deal in dream
In years to come, perhaps
You think of us
A memory we shared
12. I wish I let you in and feel a connection
Isolationist tendencies are decidedly not the best strategy
So my island is a prison
Not a blessed reclusion from the judgments of my mental illness
I'm simply in denial to any sickness at all

My big brother has always been a hero in my eyes
His actions were misleading, sort of in disguise
But I looked to him for the path to walk
Even before the days when I learned to talk

We were just kids, we would stay up late
Talking about our problems and all the people we used to “hate”
But as time went by, as if in the beat of a heart
We found ourselves in worlds; different and apart

The things he did and all the people he knew
Were of no use for me to actually get a clue
Begging for help, without ever saying a word
Makes it hard for your little brother to know your pain

Like the haze of smoke, we got caught coughing, trying to breath
But the oxygen was gone from the brother’s past
Nothing left but monoxide to toxify the bonds of brotherhood
We separated to two separate countries, how it was always supposed to be

But it was exactly different than it should have been
My brother is a hero for he showed me what not to do
He showed me who’s not cool – by being their friend
He helped me set my life on its proper way

So my brother I want to say,
You’re my unexpected hero.

We named our brothers ****** Boy John
We shoveled indifference with our ignorance
Into the grave of civility and brotherhood
The white family – we are the majority in the school of intolerance
Leading to social starvation
A minority of one is not wrong or mad
One is the last line before
an infinite sea of negative
Under God we are all equal and even
I hope we’ve cracked the whip for the last time
One more might sound louder than Judas’s kiss on Jesus’s cheek
Whips of words are seen holstered
On the tips of tongues and the points of pens
If the worth of your values breaks, and dogmatic hate begins to leak
Then stick the gum of pride you’ve been chewing on for years
To protect whatever you have left
Dr. King was an inspired man and leader
He painted the pages of history with red, not black
Sacrificed his blood, while accepting his skin
It was the kind of idea that seemed too extreme
Never forget the words: **“I HAVE A DREAM!”

Reese’s Pieces are for people who
Are used to picking up the pieces
Of broken hearts
But they still want to make it
A good experience
Smiles that look like peanut butter
And kisses that taste like chocolate

Butterfingers are for the kids who
Are used to being picked last for
Everything except to cheat off of
In math class
They’ve grown accustomed to
Not being thought of

Popular kids like the M&Ms;
Because in the end
What else do they have except
For the stories of muses
And the parties they attended
One-by-one they picked apart
Everyone who didn’t act just like them

Pop Rocks are terrible and
So are Peppermint Patties

Crunch bars and 100 Grand’s
Made the jocks think they would actually
Go somewhere and do something
With their lives
Hope comes in strange forms
Monkeys don’t know the difference

Kit-Kats are for the hipsters
Talking a little too loud about mustaches
Listening to music that nobody knew
Grouping around vegan lunch tables
They would break off one by one
When another clique accepted them

Anything made by ***** Wonka
Was a favorite of the kids who
Knew who they were and
Weren’t ashamed

After all, what does candy say
About any of us
Clothes and shoes
Were only disguises
To hide us from the world we
Desperately wanted to fit into
If you had a Five Star notebook
Started mattering a lifetime too soon

When I step into the convenience store
I picture the kids that I know
Because of the candy they ate
I regret having such a sweet tooth
To pick apart kids’ lives
With nothing to satisfy the bitter
After-taste of social humiliation

26 angels have arrived for orientation
Taken from the world without hesitation
Heaven is a little more crowded:
There’s a place already prepared
At least tonight those who’ve passed,
Will rest in God’s care

Buried under heartbreak, Newtown still stands
Worlds changed, for this kid and the next
“Kids, 2 +2 is…” BANG -
Children were unable to protect,
Themselves or their friends

Gunshots filled the air
Instead of love that should be there

Flags at half-staff, leave us half-hearted
Soo many, like too many,
Will spend their Christmas
With families torn apart
And no New Years resolution
Can make up for the inhuman execution

May we ever look to love unconditionally.

The adrenaline rush that I felt in your arms
Was enough to burst the fragile heart in my chest
See, I’ve been dropped before
I fell to the floor of love and my heart cracked like your mother’s vase
The pieces shattered in each direction
Breaking the walls of my heat’s protection
So when I was with you, the braces came down and the bandages were removed
My heart’s wings spread for the first time and I flew
Once again I could feel hope and show it in my eyes
You’re the doctor that cured me
You’re the pilot that flies my heart
Because my feelings for you could power a locomotive
That could carry the sorrows of the world to it’s broken tracks into the valley of relief
I dare say I could almost fly
Not metaphorically but literally
Sometimes I catch my heart floating a little too high
Out of it’s place, but still in bliss
It skips a few beats and comes back down
Like a hot air balloon filled with the heat of my feelings for you
So if I, one day
Defy gravity and begin to float away
Jump in the basket
Our adventure will have no horizons

I’ve recently developed a hypothesis
It’s crazier than the idea of an atheist
The truth is the hardest pill to swallow when it stings like a vaccination
So I’m dealing with the fact that my love may be broken

I’ve had a broken heart but those can be repaired
With time, effort and divine intervention
The fibers of the heart can be re-stitched together
But my love – my ability to love – seems to be destructive

When you care too much, you lose what you wanted most
I wanted you; so I said so
That worked like a poison, numbing your feelings for me

My love is like a broken boomerang
I throw it out with heartfelt emotions
Hoping and waiting for your love in return
But my love never comes back at all
It doesn’t even come back as a letter ‘returned to sender’
It simply died when it was on its way

Whether in your negligence or on the journey love take us on
My love died like a single drop of water in the desert
I wish I could figure out the enigma of love and the defect mine seems to have
My love is broken like a bird without her wings
Grounded against her nature and denied to possibilities of true life

My love is withering in my own heart – you can only love yourself so much
I was ready to give you all I am
But somewhere along the way I feel like my love is not only broken…

I tried another time to love another soul
My broken love had a heart attack and died in route to the grave
It wasn’t taken to a hospital because my love was a lost cause
Something unworthy of its name; love

My love was never seen as love by any other being
It was seen as infatuations or crushes that crushed life out of attraction
So now that my love is dead, what do I have to offer the world?

We all respond to lost love in our own way
I would fight until I had no breath or strength – then again
Maybe it’s not my love you need, or even want

That’s the trouble with loving you
I overstep, overlook and over-wish
My love was just too strong for it’s own good
Now I weep in the arctic for the faithless cruelty

An arctic that I call summer from the frozen tundra of my heart
Hell has frozen over – hell has become my heart

I have heavy boots
My boots are filled with all of the things I never say
They are getting heavier with all the things I never do
Sometimes it’s just easier to wear heavy boots
At least your legs get strong

For warm summer days
Spent in the company of friends
In earshot of ocean waves
With sandy feet and ice cream cones

For all the pretty girls
In smooth black dresses
With luscious lips and curvy hips
Walking in red stilettos or clean Nikes

For countless sleepless nights
Glow-in-the-dark paint fights
Movies till dawn
Plenty of sneaking around

For the memories we make
For the laughter we share
For the love we have (and lose)
For the God we know

She said, "I can't swim"
With a voice so confident
The ocean believes
They're still best friends.

I have a purple heart
I used to have so many strings attached
I was the marionette, and you were the master
And slowly, you got your strings around my heart
I never saw you, thread in hand, approach me with such deceit
As you started to pull my new heart strings
I felt the aches as you slammed my heart against the locked door
A cell of bones and blood there to protect from an attack like this
Now trapped from within and unable to escape
The strings keep pulling and the aches never dull

I took it for a long while thinking this was affection
But effective protection would have expelled this spell from hell
Cast out witches! Burn them like they did in Salem
It’s what they deserve for the worth that they earned
I cast you down with stones in hand
Cut my heart strings thinking I would be free
After 16 months, I took a look inside my chest
My heart was gone – replaced by a smooth river stone
I saw the runaways note addressed to me
It said;

"Hey, I liked those strings. I worked so ******* them. It took me the whole 22 years we have been traveling together to create. After all, what do you know of love? You just cut away the ties you had to me. So I’m sorry, I have to go. That woman always cared about us, cared about me. And you cast her into the flames of indifference."

The epistle was signed with a purple heart

So I got my purple heart
From the heart that quit it’s job
I held the letter and began to sob
The tears smudged the ink and the letters ran together
I saw in the river of words a “P.S.”

"PS – I told you about this girl. The one you never talked to because you didn’t have the courage. I told you she was the only one I could care for."

I have a purple heart
And I have no heart at all
A girl took it, without ever knowing

There are too many people
With smiles outshining
Their hearts
When did it become acceptable
To say foul things
As long as we brushed our teeth
Instead of being good people
Even in ***** clothes

Love is not casual
Radical and sensational,
but when you said, “let’s be casual”
You took my heart you’ve held for so long
In your sweet fingertips
and squeezed the life out of it

Love is not casual
It’s supposed to be astronomical
The supernova of your life,
a shooting start or solar eclipse
Something that makes people awe
But love always rips the notions
of causality with a casualty

Because love is not casual!
The fight that’s fought in a heart
can be bloodier than World War II
Where worlds apart crashed together
So forgive me if, here in the dark,
in this chamber of sadness
I cannot be casual

Love is not casual
If we are neither hot nor cold,
brave nor bold
Then it seems to serve no purpose
Except to torment;
like the astronaut with the shuttle launch
that will never happen
If he never sees the moon,
they both have reason to mourn
Casual is the word that will have them torn

Because love is
Sensational, capable, beautiful, wonderful
Love is anything but casual

It's a rugged terrain that would roughly be translated
survivor.
The vast mountains make the trees feel weak because they don't grow very high.
No one blames them.
The ground and snow are intimate and unashamed. They called in sick because today wanted to be a memory.
The cottages and home protect the defendants of Vikings and barbaric voyagers.
These towns are clean and safe.
This island is hostile, but welcoming.
Our visit is not a burden because Mother Nature has been ripping herself apart
to embrace us
like family.

The subway air feels like pudding. It's thick, and as clingy as water. When you take a shower at night - and you should always take a shower at night, unless you want to sleep with the city - you can feel the air instantly liquify and drain away.

The memories leave marks on your skin, if you let them. The bruises on your sides from bumping unique people;  the cut on your head from hitting a pole; the ache in your heels from walking too far. You're experiences hang on your skin, and shine through your eyes.

New York is unique because of her variety. She's strong because of her diversity. She grows because of her adaptability. New York is a jungle of human-animals trying to survive.

The smell of opportunity is stronger than the potent *** of other smells: the *****, rodent-infested tracks, frequent homeless sleeping quarters, grungy, old costumes on Times Square.

She is life; she is alive.

If you're alone or together you are always a part - a piece that makes it what it is. Without you the city survives. She has, and will. But without you, she's not what she is with you. Even if she tried.

People flow trough her streets as uniquely as blood runs through your veins. The heart orchestrates the motion, while the blood does the dance. she lives and breaths through each person's lungs. Each one arrives for a particular reason - even if for no reason at all. Our arrival helps her breath.

The anticipation before arriving in New York - not the Big Apple, no one calls it that - is enough to deprive a voyager of sleep on incoming flights. Even at 11:45 p.m. The jungle of buildings, built in perfect chaos testifies someone saw the bigger picture. A person may only see a foot, or a year in front of their face. New York saw far ahead, and high above.

Everyone is welcome. Some never leave. Permanently or temporarily, New York will take you in as long as you stay. She may hold on a little too long.

If you have never seen a baby dream,
you know nothing bout longing;
About missing a divine place to come here.
Such innocence swaddled in such a small body without control.
They communicate with God
more effectively than any prayer I’ve ever heard.
So take a lesson from babies and children
to learn how to really be men
With a racing heart that should be in a marathoner,
he struggles to open his eyes and wake.
Their heavy breathing is the only sign of the errands
they still run in heaven.
They quiver their lips as if to tell you a secret only God knows,
but has been dying to share – he just needed more innocent lips
When their eyes close they revisit that heaven they just left;
seeing more than our eyes could ever tell
In their inexperienced bodies their eternal spirits struggle to move
Even as my arm goes numb
he’s the only thing that I should be holding in that moment
His sweetness makes me want to be a little bit... more
As I think “what will you be one day?”
I realize it doesn’t matter
That today he makes me a little better
The first time he squeezed my hand I knew it was God
who picked us a millennia ago
to live this life as uncle and nephew

If you are going to shine in this world,
it is essential to know:

You will cast shadows.

People will hate you for
the darkness,
instead of praising you
for clarity.

I have to tell my heart that I am worth living for
I argue with my legs that I am worth supporting
I promise them that one day I'll take them to new places
I tell my hand that I’m worth holding
But sometimes, I tell myself to let it go
Because I really don’t have reasons for any of them
All I have is hope
That they don’t leave me in my own shadow
My shadow only sticks around because Peter Pan stitched it to my feet
I don’t blame it… I would leave me too
That’s why I don’t blame the people who choose to not stick around
They choose another person's life to live in
I like going to movies by myself
I would rather read a book than write my own
I know that I’m weird and I accept that as "good"
So when others tell me what I already know
I pretend that they’re not saying it with negativity
Like it’s been done typically
I know that I stick out
I wear really bright clothes and I’m obsessed with my shoes
I’ve never listen to them, but I can feel the rhythm of  blues
I feel like Chicago blues get her lyrics straight from my life
I’m still trying to convince myself
That missing myself is worth fixing myself
I don’t have an argument that I’m worth all the effort
But once I stop… There’s no one left
I’ve been on my own for a long time
And my tears don't quench my thirst anymore
My arms are sick of only having me to hold
My chest has swallowed my pride
My mind and my body have left me alone
I would leave me too

We are superheroes
Who simply haven't found
our masks
And are too shy to
let people see
Who we really are

I used to talk about love
Like I knew what hell I was talking about
I had all the clichés mastered
My mind made sense of
Nonsensical things
Like, tackling a girl into the snow
and her liking it...
Because it seemed to make sense,
I did it - and it worked

Back when I talked about love like
I knew a thing or two
I would use Crayons to color my best
Staying inside the lines
But love has no lines
I knew so little that I didn’t catch on
A flawless drawing just means
It doesn't have character at all

Now that I talk about love like
a ******* fool
I step on your toes
I laugh a little too loud at
inappropriate things
I respond to your “I’m fine”
With a quiet hug

When you hear someone talking about love,
Like they think they know
What they're talking about
Just give it some time
Once you realize how little you know
You took the first step toward understanding

The dinner table is crowded.
There are bowls of gravy, potatoes and greens -
Plates of meat and stuffing...
Don’t worry it gets better.
Juice and cider instead of wine.
Clean crystal cups and thick napkins,
All trimmed in blue.
Surrounded by loud elephants
Dancing on the words we don’t say.
The elephants slip on peas,
And sip my drink.
My relatives give glances
Instead of embrace.
The conversation gets heavy
As our stomachs get full.
The dinner table is a stage
Instead of a refuge.
We all wear our masks and pretend we’re OK.
The actors are well paid in self-loathing,
And pain;
Solitude.
Relationships that don’t fit into pockets
Because our phones are too important.
We are broken and shattered,
Unwilling to be fixed.
The elephants dance in gravy,
And pretend it’s a bath.

You never know when your pain only hurts so bad
As if it were screaming out loud
To get you to pay attention some how
About the greatness before
If you’re willing to leave the chartered shore
Be open to fear, to growth, to pain
In these opportunities of change you will rightfully reign
As king and captain of your soul
Bringing riches, treasures and glory
That “comfortable times” aren’t strong enough to teach

You define yourself by how you answer the door to Life
You develop yourself by how you knock on the door of Life

The world is waiting to offer a price on you set too low
Filled with can’t and don’t and wont
You can raise the price upon your head
By robbing Experience of her silver lining
In doing so, truly finding
How great you are and the change you can make
Don’t leave it to Fate – she’s just an excuse
To accept poor circumstances rather than create better ones
Stand strong – especially when you stand alone
Be the lone tree dwarfing fields of grass
Don’t give into the world and become another drone

Be yourself and have plenty
Define yourself and be happy

Neither of us is God
but I finally found
someone who
answers my prayers

“Hell…”
You didn’t let me finish my greeting
But I suppose I’m a prophet
Because I described how I’m now feeling

This was a handwritten letter that wasn’t patient enough to wait in the mail. I am a supporter of writing letters.

Our world is drifting from the simplicity of pen and paper. We love to complicate things in life.

I hope this letter can be a simple reminder that there is happiness and hope, even in darkness that reminds you of ink.

The first time I saw you my mind raced to memories of summer days at the beach; campfires; the sound of the ocean.

I thought, “She has no idea how beautiful she is. It doesn't cross her mind that girls envy her and men desire her. She is too concerned with the sound of laughter, and how it makes the darkness step back.”

I make a lot of assumptions, mostly unjustified, about people I cross paths with. But I am sure you are justified in feeling like royalty. You look like happiness.

A fort in the living room that looks like a castle, and cookie dough that tastes like heaven. If the opportunity crosses my path, I would give anything to meet you.

If you walked in front of me, I would think you were a shooting star and make a wish.

Don’t change. Shine unapologetically. You illuminate the humans around you.

Admittedly, the desire to write this letter is still unknown. The desire is there and so here are the words.

In my life I have come to find that opportunity always wears a mask
A hidden door or path that we could walk and find adventure
   or through the chance to perform a heroic task
Opportunity is not the girl who gives in too easy
Opportunity plays harder to get than that girl you have chased after for so long
In the footrace of life we are in constant motion
Looking for opportunities to ask Opportunity for an opportunity
Love, success, failure or risk
Broken hearts are just doors left cracked open
Illuminated by the light within showing the inside to possibility
Opportunity takes a broken heart, an open door, a creaky floor
And can send that person who will seal the cracks
An angel that can pass a wand or use some weird dust
   to heal the scars other may have left when they ripped open your chest
On the way out, they didn’t bother slamming to door
They left it open for the world to see you crying on the floor
As their steps fade away and the creaks stop in silence
Opportunity has a chance to whisper peace to your soul
In the emptiness and solitude of a dim and dusty heart
Opportunity often sends a person to clean the mess and turn you into the very best
Puzzles are great for the challenge each piece embodies
Once in the sum you lose sight of that one that drove you to the edge of sanity
So take the chances that Opportunity gives you
When they come a piece at a time, put it in your pocket and hold on
Like a lovers sacred locket, the pictures emulate what we define as fate
Eternity is made one moment at a time

If a broken heart is the only place I can hold you
Then I’ll tape up the cracks
so that my feelings don’t drip away
Under that kind of pressure,
how could you ever stand up to measure
my feelings for you?
You don’t even know how I dream of you at night
Even though my heart is breaking
and my hope is like smoke between my fingers
I hold on and chase it down
I would stop the wind
and reverse the hands of time
fighting Father Time for even a second more together
I would bribe and beg Mother Nature
And I pray to God that you can feel my feelings for you
So you’ll know what I’m willing to do
With a broken heart, I’d break it in two
just to scoop you up and protect you
I’d give you all the pieces I can find,
scattered on the floor
Even if it looks like the work of Picasso
It’s all I have, so…
I give it up into your trust
With hopeless, heartless,
complete confidence in you

You’re the kind of girl
That makes heaven regret
Ever letting you go
It was the biggest mistake
Since She took a bite of the fruit

You’re the kind of girl
To make honorable men better
And scoundrels too
You’re one of the angles God personally knows
He sent you to save the world
From hopelessness and
Lack-luster dreams

You’re the kind of girl
Makes an optimist a realist
Because you’re really here
It’s not just hope in his heart

You’re the kind of girl*
Movies are made of,
Flowers are bought for,
And lives are lived

Between a baby's first word
And a deathbed confession
There are plenty of times
For God to say,
“I told you so.”

I am forgotten,
As my footprints
melt
in the snow.

The more you hope for fairy tales
     the more you’ll think they’re true
How many times can a young boy’s heart
     be beaten black and blue?
The life of a romantic
     is the hardest one of all
You’re on the edge, of the highest cliff
     waiting to fly or simply fall
Like a rock or like a feather,
     we will all come down someday
Our hopes, ambitions and dreams are momentary
     fleeting
Not by any means to stay
So approach that cliff with certainty
The fall down is the most exhilarating
     type of harmony
Until the bottom welcomes her new guest
Jagged rocks intentionally rip open your chest
Just to find your heart

I am not fireproof
Be careful how you burn me

With your words of hate
Torch my clothes of confidence
Hiding my insecurity

With your words of ignorance
That singe the self-esteem
I've been building for years

Hot as hell, words are more powerful
than sticks or stones.

Words can save a life in the
furnace of friendship.

Words can destroy a life with the
wildfire of loose tongues.

You’re the singer standing in front
Of a standing ovation
Trying to hide behind a microphone
Because you cannot comprehend
How bright you are
Actually shining

If your mind were a book,
I'd memorize every page.

I find myself in the crowds of Central Park
The trees look taller than last time I was here
I’ve never been to New York

I’ve shed at least 54 tears in the last 12 minutes
I count them as they drop
Like seconds ticking off my clock
I can’t wait for tomorrow because
Maybe then I’ll feel better

The grass is green under the snow
I dug down to make sure
It took me 33 minutes to touch bottom
The grass was dead
It hasn’t seen the sun in at least 3 weeks

Maybe it is safer to be alone
I know for sure it’s easier to be alone
At least it was when I didn’t know what good company felt like
Now I can’t even read without feeling eyes over my shoulder

I don’t fit in here or there because of my odd mentality
I’m not mental, but my thoughts will soon be detrimental
I take a shower to feel better – it didn’t work
I go on a run - I didn’t make it back

I finally wake up; still crying
6 feet under and my heart finally calms
The dirt is fresh on my palms
I dig my own grave over and over

She's the kind of beautiful that pictures aren't honest about
Because some images are worth endless words

Sometimes the light
isn't at the end of a tunnel
Because you're stuck
in a hole
You dug to rock bottom
looking up you see the sky
Out of reach
Without hope
Darkness creeps
it doesn't run
Rock bottom
Is the best place
To build again
With recycled materials
from broken dreams
Sewn together with
Your own heartstrings
So looking up
is looking forward
Make the climb
And see the light

When I was 16 I almost drowned
I swallowed enough water to sink
Any ambitions to become a sailor
The water tasted a lot like my pride
It left an after taste bitter enough
To humble a King

What we take from the world
Is simply a reflection of
Who we are inside
If you feel like the sun is avoiding you
Like your ex-girlfriend
Then visit the dentist and make your smile
Bright enough to get by
The crowded streets of downtown
Aren’t filled with inept *******
Just you, who isn’t willing to see
That everyone has pain in their eyes
No matter how well they disguise
Their recent demise with ties and lies
Bought online

We fall into the chasm of doubt
That high-fives gravity because
They got you to fall
Change who you are and you’ll
Literally change your world
Because everything reflects
Our character instead of our appearance
Except for cursed glass that
Became a mirror

When you’re tempted to doubt
The goodness of life
Remember that life is what you make it
When God writes your conclusion
To your life’s dissertation
It will simply be a story
Of the dreams you had the courage
To chase

You have nothing to fear
Not even fear itself
Because you are the owner
Of happiness and peace
Enough for yourself if you’re
Willing to share

When I was 16 I almost drowned
I was resuscitated and spit out
My pride and coughed up my ego
To breath in the world
Through unbiased purity
Now I can finally see
I left that ignorant part of me
To fend for himself
I was never a good swimmer

A lot of people ask me why I pray so much
They say, “I see you with your arms folded
Rather often.”
It takes me a minute to realize that
I’ve just been holding myself for so long
My own hugs are the only embraces
Keeping my emotions on the inside

When I do pray to God I’m not self-embraced
Reaching into the air, my arms look
Like I kicked the game winning field goal in the Super Bowl
I ask a lot of “why’s” and “how’s”
I beg a lot of “please Lord, please”
Courage to endure comes on my knees

Life is the greatest struggle of all
Struggles are journeys that aren’t always pleasant
My self-embraces keep me together
God’s strength moves me forward
So raise your arms and kick
Your game winner

The light is too shy to dance with their breath.
Shivering German roads love the massage of Jewish feet.
If only the Angles weren’t too busy with me;
Tommy called me dumb and I needed God’s help.

Not even a pocket full of posies can scent moldy dreams.
24 is too young to give up, but old enough to be tired of fighting.
Our future has seen too many yesterdays to wait for tomorrow.
The world holds life together by thin threads we’re too eager to cut.

Laughter is the only sound
That is strong enough
To cover to pain
That never gives in
When the music stops
And the blinds pulled down
Pain stretches his legs
All over my heart

Certain things about people
Make us want to keep them around
The first thing for me is the sound
Of your voice

I know you’ve
Walked on some coals from hell
You never want to go back
I walked there without my shoes

Your closet is like a rainbow,
just bent a little different
You’re the light source and
The light refracts through you

From your all-back Vans to your
Double beaded pearl hair band
You’re the collection of beautiful and comfortable
That the world has searched for

I know I can trust you with
The secrets of my life
Because even if you file them way
It’ll be organized and clean

When we invest ourselves into something
That offers no retribution
We’re already set up for failure
Aren't we idiots!

It’s been ten years since the stain glass window
I loved to look through
Shattered in front of me
The cuts go deeper than flesh and bones