Read, learn
When you don’t read
When you don’t think
about what you read
You will always be
like a bird in a cage
Waitng to be freed
Read , set yourself free.
Let no one control you.

Shell ✨🐚

Each of us are very unique,
More than obvious ways,
Hair, color, shape, size, face,
Just our outer shell, during this stay.

Thoughts, from past experiences,
Our travels & journeys through time,
We are all A mixed breed, of sort,
After centuries, think back in your mind.

Any two people, will not always agree,
If to much time spent together,
Humans, sea horses, may be one other,
The only creatures, that try to mate forever.

Respect, learn from, enjoy others,
None of us are perfect, our actions, ways,
We are in this passage of time, to grow wiser,
A short lesson, preparing us, for future days.

                                                                        Tom Maxwell © 12/13/18

I want to continually reward myself
with new experiences,

wake up each morning to sounds
of birds chirping at dawn,

and rise to liberate my own inner warrior.

I said I'm learning
To keep it to myself but
I'm not sure how

If your vocabulary is small
you can grow it like a plant in a ***
day by day water it with words
one at a time until it blooms
into dictionary flowers

"you'll understand
when you're older."

I was told that
over and over.

when I asked about
anything bad or scary
or even something that
they simply didn't
want to explain to me,

that was the response.



what's global warming?

is grandma dying?

will my parents ever
get back together?

what is suicide?
why would someone
ever want to do that?

why do I have to
look away from
this scene on TV?

can boys kiss boys?
can girls kiss girls?

what is ***?

drugs are bad, so
why does my mom
use them every night?

where is my big brother?
when is he coming home?

"you'll understand
when you're older."



I'm older now

and still, there
is so much that
I can't understand.



a black man gets
shot in front of his
children and family.

the person behind
the trigger is human.

how could a human
take the life of another
human with no regrets?



my brother was killed
on impact when his
car flew off the road.

my other brother
smiled through his tears
and thanked god that
he didn't have to suffer.
he thanked god for our
brother dying instantly.

what kind of god
takes the life of someone
so young and so bright?
why should we pray
to a god like that?



the last time I saw her,
my mother was just
a walking corpse.

she had bruises and welts
and emotionless, dull eyes
and a rib cage viewable
from outside of her body.

why did my mother
turn herself into this?
when will she die?
is it wrong for me
to hope that comes soon?



they told me,

"you'll understand
when you're older."

but all I understand
is that there are things
that were kept hidden
from my young ears.

I still don't understand
why these things happen
or who to blame for them
or if people are good or bad.



"you'll understand
when you're older."

I'm older now.
I don't understand.

stuck in an abyss,
staring down into nothingness
as if it will shine a light,
when you least expect it
lost myself in a manner
it was hard to recover,
with the missing pieces
still at large
but can't give it up,
not yet
I have a long way to go
before I eventually blow
looking for some sunshine
after this punishing snow,
clear as a crystal
while my husky's fur bristle
getting a cup of coffee to go,
its high time for me to grow
more than I ever know,
I feel it is harder
to pull yourself
out of the funk
when you have been down and out,
there is that element of doubt
hindering your next move,
to get out of the abyss
and find yourself in a place
surrounded by love and hope
sometimes even your heart can't cope
simply because it ain't used to it,
but this time I shall submit
to a higher belief
that everything is gonna be alright
give my future self a chance,
a chance at redemption
to take responsibility
for myself
and those around me,
a chance to start over
fail
and rise again.

You stroke my lower back
And I start to feel the familiar tingle
But there just seems to be this lack

I can’t reciprocate the touch
Frankly, cause in life
I have never experienced much

Even if this longing is tremendous
To do and to not do it
never stops to feel horrendous