"Good morning, Gorgeous,
Remember to love everyone today
Especially me!
Yours Truly,"

"Thank you for a wonderful day
I'm sorry I couldn't spend the night. I'll come pick
you up for lunch tomorrow.
Sleep sweet, Angel
Love,"

Growing up
we always ask ourselves
will I be rich
will I be wanted
will I be loved
will I be pretty
will I be pretty
and our mothers will say to us,
Darling, you are beautiful.
but the mirrors will gawk at us.
I want to be pretty
I want to be pretty
Darling, you are beautiful.
but the slits on our wrists
tell us otherwise, Mother.
The girls at school with their
bouncy blonde ponytails
they are so pretty
they are so pretty
and we will sulk in our rooms
with razors so sharp,
pleading to Mother,
I want to be *pretty

Every responsibility
is an opportunity to prove
that you are
exceptional.
Take every assignment
as a chance to prove
to the whole world
that you are
one of a kind.
You were born you,
you were born to be you
and you are here to be the best you
that you can be.

"You are
my shining star,
and I hope that you never fade out of
my life.
All my love, "

I love you, you said.
don't leave me, you said.
forever, you said.
then tossed me aside
like nothing.
I need you, I plead.
Take care of me, I plead.
I love you, I plead.
nothing.

A man, over fifty
years wiser than I,
reaches for a hand
that is no longer there.
He is frozen over
with the chilled air of loneliness,
urging for a love
that has not graced his soul
in many years past.
Memories of her
scattered among the
cracked floorboards.
The house's familiar creeks
are no longer sounds of
home
but the uncertain ticking of
his time, running out.