Don't listen to me when I say
I didn't see you look my way
Because the flowers sprung abloom
The moment you entered the room

Don't believe me when I run
It's confrontations that I shun
That drive my mind to gears away
From safe zones where I've ought to stay

Don't listen to me since I tried
To bear the feelings that I hide
Which stem from years of risks unclaimed
And in this stalemate, we remained

Don't listen to my mouth's white lies
But look to the joy in my eyes
For it is in them you will see
The message meant for only thee

The person you meet at the wrong time is not for you to have.

You never meet the right person at the wrong time;
the right person for you is, in a word, timeless.

The person you're destined for is timeless.
You won't have to struggle with time, or any force of nature, to be with that person.
It just comes just as easy as Love itself, seamless and organic.

I'll wait.
If time is not on my side right now,
I'll wait.
So if ever there was a chance that you are the right person, I don't want my impatience or immaturity to cause you to become the wrong one.

The morning came
And with a hint of rain
The sun rose high

I searched your face
In rumpled sheets
In busy streets
I looked for you

The crowds pushed forward
Too busy to care
For mundane things

You heard my voice
The thundering jeers
Of distant fears
I whispered softly.

"It's not the constant adventures,
But everyday gestures

It's not what you bring to the table,
But bring out in your partner

It's not proven to the world
But to each other."

When you set out on your journey
To traverse in seas unknown,
You will meet a set of characters
Who will test you to the bone:

You will hear such glorious voices
From the waters of below
Only stoop a bit, to glimpse of
The few sirens that lay low
With a wonder, you may doubt that
You have witnessed great beauty
The many scales they've fought to hide
Will in time, reveal so clearly

You will come across sea merchants
Who'll speak lengthy promises
Don't accept their words too quickly
Or their small venom doses
Gold to the eye, sweet to the tongue,
Their words drip like bee's honey
Yet to the thirst you've long to fill
So unquenchably sticky

When you find some shipwrecked sailors
Who are also lost at sea
Take them on board and you'll find that
They become your best mate-y
Keep them close, take good care of them
You will need them near the end
When you hit that last tidal wave
And your ship's about to bend

You will come by some sea pirates
Who will win you like a friend
When the seas get rough and rowdy
To you they will all depend
Don't believe their charming banter
They will empty up your lot
And then leave you stranded, lifeless,
Just to steal your golden spot

If you find a distant lighthouse
Do not fear to get too close
There you'll find such rare occasions
And gain gold you can't dispose
They will make you see the wonder
Of the smallness of your ship
And narrate those distant countries
For your never-ending trip

When you set out on your journey
To traverse in seas unknown,
You will sail through different waters
That will test you to the bone:

You will face a wave of troubles
That may come at an instant
Hold the ropes and brace the weather
Sunshine won't be too distant
Don't be too blinded by the rain
Don't get swept away by wind
For your greatest battle to face
Is not the outside, but in

Always remember your compass
For it knows you more them
It will guard your own sanity
Like a vault of precious gems
Don't believe them when they tell you
To exchange your own for theirs
You will lose your soul on the way
In search of approving heirs

At times you will sail still waters
But in these don't be deceived
For they come in strange intervals
In small bursts to be received
Do not chase after such waters
Those who did had died at sea
Not a name to be remembered
Nor a real captain to thee

Above all else, remember this--

When you land in shores uncertain
When your mates have all disappeared
When your compass has been stolen
When the journey's worse than you feared
When you stare death right in the face
When sea monsters outnumber you
When nothing falls right into place
When there is nothing left to do

--Don't lose sight of the North Star
In the land and seas you roam
It's your constant, day and night
Until you have returned Home.

When I was five,
My dad told me
"The world is tough,
So you have to be tough."

He told me
My grandfather taught him
The same thing.
"Tough love,"
They dubbed it.

Eighteen years later
I discovered that
Tough love is a myth:

Love is never tough.
It boasts of vulnerability to
Unforeseen and unnecessary pain
By the one
You have given access to.
It will be your compass
As you navigate the
Unexplained and uncountable reasons
Why you chose to stay put
When all the world was against you,
Why you chose to let go
When your heart whispered otherwise.

Love is many things
And also not many things
It is gentle, but never weak
It is forgiving, but never naive
It is honest, but never offensive
It is sincere, but never foolish.
But love is never tough.

We are carried through time
With the back and forth
Motion of tides:
Close enough to touch
Far enough to distance
But never to forget--
One does not simply
Forget you.

From such great heights
He stoops down low
To lift my head
Without a care
Of what this looks like

With steady hands
He stitches up
The wounds time left
To make anew
The first of spring

He made me whole
Oh how he dared
Defied the odds
Through stormy seas
To win me over

And there we went
To distant lands
To such great heights
To ocean floors
We walked on water

How easy it would be
To blurt out every feeling
The words being carried
Through every current
Only to get lost at sea

How easy it would be
To bring my heart out
In the open wilderness
As dust being swept to
Chase after the wind

How easy it would be
To feed on recklessness
To set fire in December
To launch a thousand ships
And die without a secret

A pinch of sadness
Hangs in the air above
From just remembering
You were once here, my love

In dreams I felt you
Those bursting memories
That sang of
Sweet lullabies
Filling the room
That tasted of
Weird ice cream flavors
You begged me to try

The way (only) you found
Such joy in numbers
For every Bulls game
The way (only) you took
Food so personally
You got mad at my friend once
For eating your secret stash of
Lengua de gato

The classical music
Filling the sala on weekends
Your forgetfulness to the steps
When you danced with lola
How you'd rather sing on stage
Than give the speech people were expecting

The things you taught me
How to bowl
(which I still love until today)
How to play chess
(which I still lose until today)
How to eat unhealthy food
(and enjoy)
How to listen to all kinds of music
(from Bocelli to Jennifer Lopez)
How to love your spouse
(for future reference)
How to tell someone they're wrong
(lovingly)

Ten years have gone by
With too many episodes to recount
I look up above
Hoping for your smile to be seen, lab.

So here's to when we meet once again.

With bright eyes
You look at the world outside
The way I wish I did

With crooked teeth
You wear your flaws in a way
The inner child in us used to

With goofy smiles
You hold in your delicate heart
The secret to humanity's desire

With kind words
You give the uncertain tomorrow
The reason why I can still hold on:

You, by my side.

I think I saw
The open marks of nurtured kindness
Spilling at the corners of your eyes

I think I heard
The sound of still quietness
The moment you opened your mouth

I think I felt
The lightness of your words
When you attempted to be funny
(and I laughed to be polite)

I think I said
The wrong thing at the moment
When I tried to impress you

I think I experienced
Him the other day
In you

Your warmness
It had seeped through my
Well guarded disposition

Never knew
I was capable
Of careless conversation

Too many
Places to count of
Thoughts sewn into seamlessness

My high walls
Blown to smithereens
I watched them fall before you.

The pursuit of what is yet to be conceived:
To conjure up what has been stored up
For centuries--
The very vaults of the human experience.

To talk about:
The worst and best part of man's complexity
Our darkest secrets, our brightest moments
What we've felt
Or refused to have felt.

We travel in time:
Back to vivid memories that still haunt us,
And onto more promising territories
As we push forward in these uncertain waters.

Words:
The very footprints of our existence
Those we put out in open spaces
And those echoed in deafening silence
Our small contribution to the world
When we depart
For home.

Hasty moves,
Afraid of words unspoken,
Hoped to last,
But we in time were broken,
Souls that grew,
In ocean deep blue waters,
Feared the Sun,
We hid in empty wonders,
Can't explain,
Commas we have left behind,
Now too late,
To pause and hit our rewind.

There he goes,
Playing tricks on me once more
As he walks on by,
Inching feelings from before.

All over again
Must this be so?
I've got things to do
And far places to go.

You're not worth my time
Though you've come all this way
Bringing thoughts so sublime
Just to mess up my day.

GO AWAY.
GO AWAY.

I don't know how
We got to this mess
Since there's more to the story
Than I would confess.

And here we are now
Where did time go by?
What happened to that space
Where we said we would try.

The tears got old
Seeped skin-deep instead
While debating on restless
Thoughts of you in my head.

You'll hold on tight,
I know you so well,
You think you've got me
Under a spell.

And maybe it's okay
Not to be today.
For someday I'll be better than this
And you'll matter a whole lot less.

I'll be alright.
I'll be alright.

I saw it coming
But that didn't help
Because who is ever prepared
To say that word?

Open notes
Yet words unspoken
Two together
Built then broken.

The universe brought us together
Only to tear us apart
Oh, did we take these chances
To tire our restless hearts.

Waiting on that someone,
I have yet to see.
In times unexpected,
For both you and me.

You'll come through my window,
And break out into song,
You'll stop me on the street,
Say "I've known it all along!"

It's you, it's you,
I see you've taken the time
Through goose chases and mistakes of
Songs gone wrong in rhyme.

I am done with projects
And you, with love restricted
So will our paths cross finally
To a road so unconflicted.

Maybe I still do
Maybe I still do
Maybe I still do
Love you.

And it hurts so much
Just to miss your touch
Because I still do
Love you.

Her name is Daisy
She drives me crazy
She leaps from bed to bed
Just to land inside your head.

It was a Sunday
When I saw her
Melted in my arms
Swiveling her body to mine

Brought her home
To my momma
Right into my life
Now she's looking so mighty
Fi-i-i-ine!

Her name is Daisy
Never fails to amaze me
She looks like a summer day
Swings her head
When she walks and sways.

My darling Daisy
My crazy Daisy
My hazy Daisy
Daisy Days

My Dai-ai-ai-aisy
My Dai-ai-ai-aisy
My Dai-ai-ai-aisy
Daisy Days

Woof woof!

There,
I know you're there,
Though I can't hear a word
That you speak.

Troughs,
I'm riding troughs,
And pretty soon I hope
I will peak.

The day went by,
Got lost in the sound.
The night stood long;
But in darkness,
I remembered you.

In these empty waters,
I'm tested yet sober.
My soul only thirsts for you.

I've long to face wonder,
To replace the sunder
With love that was made for two.

And I still wonder why
I let these days go by

A splash of light!
The morning came,
And with a hint of rain,
The sun rose high.

I searched your face,
In rumpled sheets,
In busy streets,
I looked for you.

The crowds pushed forward,
Too busy to care,
For thoughts that dare
involved mundane things,

You heard my voice,
Past thundering jeers,
Of distant fears
I whispered softly.

It was not your disposition
That had grabbed my attention
But the brownness of those eyes
That latched on me by surprise.

I remember that day you wore
Everything that I’d normally abhor
Your horrid purple lines
And framed empty glass
That first unhinged my prejudice
Before it came to pass.

You had that unconventional sense
Of an unassuming confidence
I found it in the bounce of your walk,
And in the quirky lightness of talk.

I’ve built my walls in open spaces
I’ve seen hostility in friendly faces
Now time is but a futile element
Of shattered pieces of sediment.

You have stiffened me beyond
The normalcy to respond
That came with many years of running
From any semblance of this feeling.

Now I’m left without knowing what to do
With the unbearable lightness of you
That relieves me of many years gone heavy
And leads me to a space for two.

Though the
Infinitesimal, inconsequential
Being I may be
Acting bigger
Than who I am
A tiny speck of galaxy.

Oh I wonder
How I capture
Such importance
From the likes of thee.

Though the
Infinitesimal, inconsequential
Being I may be
You make me bigger
A magnificent speck of galaxy.

I still wonder
How I capture
The undeserving
Gift of thee.

What is it about the rain that makes us feel so
Limited?
Is it the water that seems to enclose on us
Wherever we may step?
Or how every living thing drops in solidarity with
The rain that falls on the pavement?

But that afternoon
We were liberated
By the art of
Racing in the rain.

What is it about running that makes us feel so
Limitless?
Was it the length of our strides,
Or the thrill of the wind?
As it rushes through our bodies as we push on
Against it, with it?

I do not recall how we got there
But we were in the middle of it
We were running, oh yes,
We were running
Forgetting in the first place
Why we were running.

I do not recall who started racing who
Was it I racing you?
Or you racing me?
Or were we simply racing each drop
That fell from the boundless sky?

The movement felt like years,
The movement felt like bliss,
The flashes came in shades of blue,
My favorite.

And when my knees began to buckle
Under the weight of the rain
You carried me on your shoulders
As we raced against the rain.

Today I heard a song
From the distant future
When I’ve been healed
By time and suture.

You told me here
To let go and hold on
As we disappeared
Into the beautiful unknown.

It sang of the endless lyrics
Of words that we’ve yet to know
And we danced to the beat of many years
Where we could only grow
Older, closer, better.

So while that future song
Has yet to be composed
I’ll be humming similar melodies
‘Til the universe draws us close.

There is a growing conspiracy
Of the thought of you and me
Throwing me in these allusions
Of the things I used to flee.

My thoughts on the matter are
Wrapped around the cliche of time
That spill out endless possibilities
Beyond chances, words and rhyme.

Maybe this time,
I won’t be as unreasonable
Maybe this time,
You’ll prove more endearing
Maybe this time,
We’ll be ready for
The promise of us.