culture is:
i. something earned
ii. something fought to preserve
iii. a part of a race or group of people
that you simply cannot take away from them.
iv. an essential part of their being
v. a heritage
vi. a legacy

culture is not:
an accessory.

I admire a lot of the poets here.
I believe that wisdom is a thing
it grows inside you like a tumor,
not always benign.
I sometime felt like I lived on a fault line,
because things never stayed where you put them.
I've seen many poets here
spill their pasts out for us to see.
I'm not here to cry, scream or shout
because for me, that's never what it's all been about.

I placed myself here for the recognition...
at first...
Now I've realized I can do so much more.
I got a message by someone saying that
I had made their life.
Heh.
These words cut me sharper than any knife.
Made me wake up and realize that
I can turn this whirlwind of strife
into a twister of hope.
And much like twister
we all find ourselves in a knot from time to time.
But there are sublime moments
that hit us in our blind spots
until we see spots.

If I can give someone that feeling,
then I can start reeling in the fish that got away,
I can stay planted in the past
less like a grave and more like a flower.
sway in breeze
and tower above these problems and enemies.
If I can find it in me
to bury my demons alive,
to strive for the happiness I inspire in others,
to see not strangers, but sister and brothers,
IF I can do that,
so can you.

I've prayed for meaning
as if it would help me live,
but God is a master
of the silent "dunno-what-to-tell-ya" shrug.
Maybe I didn't make this guys life for real,
like... 4real4real,
but I did SOMETHING.
This something
was worth than a million lifetimes
of nothing.

So.
Poets?
Scholars?
Women and Men of the Pen?
Let's give the mysteries of the universe
a break for a day or two, eh?
They'll be there when we come back.
Let's stop cracking the locks on life
and crack a smile instead.
This entire website is black and white,
but let's color inside the lines,
if just for a day.