Day after day,
I came to that room,
on my back, every little thing.
A place to just forget,
a place, I'd learn to call my home: room 217.

Day after day,
I'd enter that door,
not wanting to do anything,
until I saw your face,
shining through the darkness.

You gave me hope
in the smallest ways,
in daily actions
done with a loving heart.

Day after day,
I'd sit on that desk,
Loving dark thoughts,
glaring at the world
through my black-tinted glasses.

I'd feel quite alone,
isolated by my judgments,
unwilling to step out,
onto the boards, with you.

I poured my worries into paper,
into binders, into packets,
I created my own world,
full of facts, full of practice
Day after day.

The contest came,
a Victory.
Turning us to one another,
for one moment, unity.
Still, just one, more day.

Then, day after day,
I'd stand up in front,
preaching algebra, statistics
just hoping something would stick.

But as they say,
you can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink.
(Though the salt before sure helped)

Day after day
Questions answered,
reflections made,
life lived,
busy, hectic days.

And though all I taught was Math,
you taught me love,
you taught me joy.
You taught me how to loosen up,
how to look at life right.
For perspective has never been my strong suit,
from this view here near the ground.

And I can't thank you enough,
for countless little moments,
a lesson taught,
a concept learned,
a smile appears, as success draws near,
if only for a while.

Day after day,
the tension builds,
the string pulled taught,
all eves on us.
(or so it seemed,
in our own little world)

Now it's two parts down, just eight left,
And each one of us, a team,
every minute given, a gift.

So onwards we marched,
though states and through mind,
to the city,
to the lights.

And my nerves are on fire:
the embers of anticipation
lit by sparks of competition
the flames licked up my spine,
I saw my hands were shaking,
my heart beating faster,
than it has in a long, long time.

Now a wave is building,
Now looming overhead,
Now a wall of pure terror,
the fear of failure towering,
over all.

My heart is a battleground,
for was of Reds and Whites.
My flickering passions,
my blinding anxieties,
WARNING: PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR IMPACT

I try to calm the tremors,
It's just one more day.

Moments pass, every second, a century.
Now a wind at my back,
pushing me forwards
shoving me onwards,
shaking the foundation of my entire soul.

Now, I stare into the forest
of everything I've done.
Screaming, Shouting, Searching for an answer.
Peering, Peeping, Pursuing a response.
All at once, a sight emerges,
I perk up, expecting fruition.

But all I saw is a cloud,
a blackness, rolling, building, tumbling,
rippling like growing hear
flickering like dying hope,
and All at once, it hits me.
As a river flows form my head,
seeping drop by drop into my heart,
and all I want is to be alone,
to choke, struggle, and drown
in my own salt-water sea.

So I step back,
and all at once,
I am entombed.
A rock guard,
A light snuffed.

So now I say to myself,
Day after day,

Everything I do is in hope of the Resurrection.

Again, I hear,

Everything I am is in the hope of the Resurrection.

A final time, I know,

Everything, is in hope of the Resurrection.

The tenths of milligrams of saturated fat,
The letters of words of a cereal box,
The colors of the eyes of my big, fat cat,
The sound of the door when she knocks, knocks, knocks.

The shape of the curve of that one perfect wave,
The rising of the smoke of our back yard fire,
The itch of my brain from that all-essential crave,
The pain of a word heard passing by her.

The fear of a hand that’s always swinging,
The red of my heart when I just can’t take it,
The grasping of the smoke that’s never staying,
The blue of my eyes when you just keep faking it.

If I could bleed onto this paper, I would
If I could hit you until you bled, I would
If I could yell at you until you hit, I would
If I could cry with you until you yelled, I would
If I could look upon you until you cried, I would

If I could run from you until you looked, I would
If I could tell you the truth until you ran, I would
If I could be with you until you told me the truth, I would
If I could love into you until you were with me, I would
If I could do anything, would you love me?

It's one of those moments when
my eyes hurt from crying
with my entire heart and soul
for everything you've done for me

It's of those times when
every thing is important
from the smallest detail
to the deepest thought

It's one of those car ride when
I want time to stop
and allow me the eternity needed
to tell my friends how much I love them

It's one of those group of guys
that know me better than anyone.
Each and every man, I could call upon
at a moment's notice: they would be there

But I hope for more than this,
In the midst of this blissful perfection
I hope this isn't the end,
but the start of a wonderful beginning.

And I hope that this one moment,
this one time, this one car ride,
this one group of guys,
is never forgotten, never left behind.

I hope this all becomes
more than anyone thought possible

I hope this moment becomes a state of mind.
I hope this one time becomes a lifetime.
I hope this one car ride becomes an everlasting roller-coaster.
I hope this group becomes all humanity.

Now we're laughing, now we're crying,
and I believe heaven looks a lot like this.

Now we're called, now we're beckoned,
to bring heaven down to earth,
Time and time again.

If Love is like a River,
I hope one day,
we flow into the Ocean,
merging together as one.

And though we still have questions,
and we all still have problems,
and of course, we're still imperfect,
Hope endures within us all.

For Love is the goal,
the sea we all seek,
and it is a daily decision,
our own personal river.

And right now, the sea
looks so close, but so far away.
But one thing I know for sure,
is the Love in this moment.

Now don't ever let it go.