Create to start day
Relax by midday
Learn by late day
Contemplate to end day
Read when it's not day
Dream it all away

Word
Of
Mouth,

For impressionable sons and daughters of time,
Children,
Tied like flies to spider web strings and mothers impossible dreams,
Wide eyed,
Lied to,
By ignorant ministers and cider soaked child choked brides.

Word
Of
God,

For Children
Forever dulled and cowed by the good book,
Heavy on this earth like rocks in sand and impervious to reality,
Wide eyed
Lied to,
By gullible Fathers and wine wrecked god bothered priests.

Hand
Me
Down,

Mothers,
Fathers, 
Priests and teachers,

Words that weigh me down to the past and to fear,
Words that chain me to home.

Hand
Me
Down,

Bilge.

I could write a 50 page paper about you.
From the beginning to the ending
And all in-between
But come even closer
And I could make a book with our stories

it's crazy to think
some people's lives just started
some people's lives just ended
all over the world.
a celebration of life has begun
a mourning of death has begun.
no matter your age
no matter what stage of life,
everyone's still learning.
experiencing
healing
growing
making mistakes
maturing.
sure some have it easier than others
sure some have it harder than others
but in the end,
we have the chance to live
to live as in to be present.
we are here on this earth
while others aren't
recognize your opportunity
to be.

Standing on a mountain
looking around
at other mountains
is not growing

Growing is climbing down,
looking around,
and choosing another mountain to climb

and while they say
that life is a journey,
Exploration without knowing
what direction to walk
feels a lot like being lost

Maturity
Vulnerability
Intent
Community

These things I thought I'd mastered

I was skimming the surface of a lake,
talking about things
I had reasoned were inside

Throwing myself into the water
changed my understanding of it

Maturity means more than growing older
Vulnerability means more than speaking my truth
Intent is never finished or checked off a list
Community is a two way street

Experience is not always expertise
Confidence is not always complementary

A year has shown me
that life really is a journey
and I know which direction
I want to walk

i am still learning
the one thing
they never teach:
that grades-
more specifically
that one D
is not indicative
of my character.