It's been the longest time,
Since I've felt this alive.
So many years gone by
Since I've seen all these guys.

But on this day,  I rise,
When I was granted life,
To find my eyes surprised
By all their smiles and cries!

"Hey, happy birthday man! "
"It's been a long-*** time! "
"We planned ahead, and decided
To grab some whiskey and wine! "

And that was all it took,
To get it through my head,
That when this night was over
We'd likely do it again.

See, I'm a man with good friends,
I have a thirst I must quench,
And when Bacchus calls for me,
I always let the games begin!

And once these parties start,
They rarely, if ever, end.
And when the bottles do run dry,
Someone carries some more in.

"And every glass I take,  I do it not for me;"

"It's for His Majesty!"
"It's for His Majesty!"

Now it's the third warm night
And all the wine is gone,
The whiskey comes along,
And they break out in song:

"Another cup for mine!"
"Another night survived!"

"It's for His Majesty!"
"It's for His Majesty!

Tell a blue bird she is beautiful,
she will say,
I know.

I see trees burnt black
Dead roses too
Nothing can bloom
No flowers new
And I think to myself
What have we done to this earth ?

The sky is ablaze
The sun glows white
Smog stays all day
A forest burns at night
And I think t myself
What have we done to this world ?

The fish are full of plastic
Seabirds can’t fly
Red tide is like blood
Whales washed up to die
There’s an island of garbage
Drawn on the map
The sea turns toxic
An ocean of crap
And I think t myself
What have we done to this earth ?

Babies cry because they know
They will reap just what we sow
And I think to myself
What have we done to this world ?

it's not love.

you will make it out of this.

saying no does not make you a bad person.

saying yes too much will leave you empty.

you probably don't need those credit cards.

whiskey does not drown your sorrow.

this is the only body that you have.

be kind to it

and your heart which

shatters over and over

but still lives.

you will make it out of this

you will fall in love

with yourself and then

maybe one day another.

you will live to see 22 and then 25

and then, eventually, 30.

today, we are 28.

we are happy.

we are grateful.

I know this is late,
but I just wanted
to say Happy Birthday.
I hope you had a great day.
Thank you for being
a great friend.
I can't wait to see
you grow more.
I love you!

Fall / by Elaine Yu

i know why it is called “fall”
Like a piece of heaven fall
Wait for us and never fade
Not until your laughter echoed in the valley
Not until the mud splashed on our shoes
Not until you conquered the hill and creek
Not until you gave me your precious self-made hiking stick
Not until you played enough in this fall

That year an angle fall
Ignite my world with a smile
And love I fall into
Never fall apart

this time, i learned that healing is messy,
it comes in waves
there are times that it was scary,
other times it was just plain easy
on days i would drown
other days i’d simply just float
but it’s not hopeless, nor is a myth

it’s always gonna be insane, and i still love insane