Reeducate yourself
by using what you've learned
to question what you've learned.
Take the answers to those questions and
question them again and again,
until you find what you need.
Sooner or later you will realize
half of the things you've learned
are a waste and most of what
you really needed to learn
was outside the classroom-

Like events yet to unfold,
geographical locations and places
yet to be seen and explored,
experiences yet to be had,
books yet to be read,
researches yet to be made,
fences yet to be jumped,
trenches yet to be dug and crawled through,
seeds yet to be sown,
rivers yet to swim and bridges yet to be built.

Things like adventures yet to be taken,
cliffs yet to be hanged from,
oceans yet to be navigated,
mountains yet to be climbed,
shattered dreams yet to be chased,
harvests yet to be gathered,
tears yet to be shed, music yet to be listened to,
sleepless nights yet to be spent,
roads yet to be traveled,
milages yet to be covered,
mysteries yet to be figured out
puzzles yet to be solved,
risks yet to be taken,
lies yet to be told and hearts yet to be broken.
many disappointments yet to be experienced,
chains yet to be unshackled and races yet to be run,
pains yet to be felt, battles yet to be fought,
and loses yet to be endured.

IvanBrookspoetry
4.30.2019

For so long I felt so lost, and yet I was simply refusing to see straight
For So long I felt hopeless, and yet I couldn’t accept that I could help myself.
For So long I felt alone, and yet I never truly was alone.
For so long I felt unloved, and yet I have so many forms of love around me unconditional.
For so long I was unhappy, and yet I was hiding it behind a broken smile.
For so long I thought I needed her, and yet she was the reason I was drowning.
For So long I thought no one could love me, and yet I never let anyone try.
For so long I wonder why anyone would ever love me, and yet to the world I am me.
For so long I questioned how life came to be, and yet every day I saw the lies and deceit
For so long I felt trapped every day, and yet I was so close to escape.
For so long I hinged my self-worth on one person, and yet that person was not “I”
For so long I questioned why I was a horrible person, and yet my actions were not mine alone.
For so long I thought life could only advance with her, and yet I never noticed she was the anchor to my sadness stopping me from moving forward.
For so long I was stuck, and yet you came along.
For so long I never understood how anyone could love me, and yet you looked beyond my “fake self image” and saw the real me.
For so long I pushed anyone away, and yet I let you in.
For so long I questioned “Why Did I let her in” and yet, letting her in set me free.
For so long I was trapped in a Illusion, and yet now I am free.
For so long I justified my own negative ways that were drilled into my head by someone who only cared about themselves, and yet this is only because I had a loving heart.
For so long I asked for a bit of light to guide me freely, and yet that light never came.
For so long I asked for it to work, and yet it never did.
For so long I asked for a door, and yet it was there all along.
For so long I was trapped by nothing more than thoughts and yet the exit was right there.
For so long I let myself be bound to someone, and yet they never deserved it
For so long I wished to be free, and yet I always was.
For so long is nothing now, and yet it was everything.
Everything is now clear, such as reflecting mirror.
Life has a meaning, but is still unclear.
The answer wasn’t I, the answer was You.
I asked for a sign and I received it, just not in the way I thought I would.
In one night, everything changed. And sailed away like a cruise ship departing.
In one instance the door opened, and yet… It can not be closed.
You, gave me what I needed even if you can’t see that.
I love you, though love is just a word. I can never repay you for how you helped me to see me for who I am and not the illusion of hate I was drowning in.