I have a little ceramic mouse.
He's less than an inch long.
One tiny pink ear is gone, his other is chipped.
His toes have been removed as well.
He often stands looking at me
Miniscule hands on his tiny hips
Tail threaded through the triangular hole
His right arm creates.
He ***** his head to the side
Squinting at me
Reprimanding.

Would you rather
Eat an apple
Or starfuit?

Would you rather
Play a game
Or read a book?

Would you rather
Sleep all day
Or work all night?

Would you rather
Take it as it comes
Or take it whether it comes or not?

Would you rather
Never be happy
Or be sad all the time?

Would you rather
Leave the past behind
Or bring it back?

Would you rather
Re-write your bad choices
Or run away from them?

Would you rather
Mark your own path
Or be led down the right one?

Would you rather
Love, and lose
Or never love at all?

Would you rather
Hold hands with me
Or someone else?

Your choice.

Greta
Had just wanted one true friend
Maybel
Only asked to hold your hand
Scarlett
Was the only one to let you down
Teddi
Didn't give you what you wanted to own
Lynnie
Wanted truth but got lies in return
Amory
Told me that you could never learn
Yasmin
Fell in love and into a mess
I
Was smart and didn't say "yes".

Four-square
Is a grossly underrated game
Don't you think?

I saw her again tonight
That pretty, angry girl among so many others.
Her hair fell over her dark eyes,
A bitter frown on her pale face.

Her words are so brutal and curt.
She writes of stupid, ugly things
Battered, tattered things
I can't help but wonder
If that girl who hides behind
Blue skies and sunshine smiles
Popular friends and a rule-all attitude
Has a method to her madness.

I long to ask her, though I know I'd be met with trouble
Speak quietly and ask,
"What are you so angry at?"
Is it the world?
Her life?
The parallel white scars on her left wrist
Long healed, but unwilling to disappear?
Why does she feel like tomato juice
In a world of bubbly citrus?

Does she want to be relieved
Of whatever burden pains her?
Can she find the power
To release herself from her wrought-iron cage?
Does she need a true friend
As badly as she needs a real smile?

Pretty, angry girl, I wish I could help you.
I really do.

It starts with the shards of black glass flying through the air
Wild winds rub the skin raw
The sky came gray, but turned red-orange as the arid land
Welcomed the black sunset as poison in its throat
The land is sick, it seeps into the roots as an obsidian rainstorm
This is the chaos, it rules all
No room for thought can't speak
It whips the life slowly
Turning the mass into smog
Just a whisper of beauty gone
Can't find it, all gone
No remnants left in swirling plague of debris
Can't see
No room to breathe

Yet.

Then comes a breath, smooth, even
The dust is replaced with white light
The beauty returns, calm and quiet
This is Order, what is right
Good comes, draws the venom out of the system
The wind is still, then comes back
As a cool breeze soothing the skin
Returning the nature to the arid land
It will stay this way, Order
Healing, pressing, stilling, controlling
The chaos, which crawls back
An injured panther will not end the fight
Chaos will call back the red winds
And the obsidian rainstorm will return again.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's get something straight.
I'm sick.
Sick of checking all the poems
All about pain and
How horribly beautiful love is
The sadness that consumes you on the daily
Why don't we write about the good things
There is beauty in nature, describe it
Let the strength within you be nurtured
Have faith in those who trust you
I'm tired of wrenching accounts
Of the razor sliding across the skin like a pen on paper
I know how it feels to have pain
But writing about the bad makes the good seem gone
So smile at the cool grey sky
Taste the rain
Write something funny
Let movies inspire you
Drink a chocolate milkshake with a cherry
Using the spoon to eat the whipped cream
Write about how he/she/other
Has eyes that light up the sky
You know there is happiness in your life
Don't create a contest
It's not about who has it worse
So write about joy
Or a silver candlestick
Unleash the inner beast
I know it's tough to beat the baddest of things
Sometimes you can't have control
So let the hippogriff fly
Let the extras go
It's you versus the world
And I personally think
If you can't beat it,
Join it.
You all probably think I'm stupid now
For surely no one can know your sorrow
But heed my words
And write about lovely things tomorrow.