Love makes the inevitable, inviting
The darkness of death looming
Like a dark cloud on the brightest day
Undefeated
Love's rays of sunshine can not stop the rain
But each drop now has the potential to bow
Bringing a joy, we could never imagine

Oases are vainglorious
Often indulging in their own mystique
Coveting the admiration
Inspiring others to aspire for their majestic independence
But unlike rivers, they do not flow
They do not connect
They do not grow into something bigger than themselves
This connection is power
It is love
Be a river

In Seattle from a hotel windowsill
one can speculate the faults of those
who roam the wasteland below,
only they know
but the darkened alleyway will tell
their story just fine.
There’s a homeless woman who looks down-
right ready to cry when she receives leftovers
and I sit there and ******* hate myself
because I can’t live up to my own expectations.
Seattle is just the excuse really.
There’s a little girl playing on the stairs
who falls but is not defeated
she says it just takes some practice
and in that moment I love her.
Part of me wants to say hold up,
how did you become so smart;
and part of me wants to hold up
a knife to my chest, just to keep something close.
I know I wouldn’t use it that way
I’m a ******* coward and maybe
that’s what brought me here in the first place.
Not to Seattle, but to the windowsill,
where I speculate the faults of those
who call this wasteland home.

To the next one to love her,
some unsolicited advice:

   1. I may be the first,
       but I will not be the last.

   2. She deserves more than
       she says, and you need
       to know that.

          I built my home in her heart
          and that was my mistake.
          My world shook with every
          sip she took, and the roof
          wasn’t enough to shelter me.

   3. Be strong and be brave.

          She will love you like lightning,
          so don’t be afraid of the rain.

  Lastly,
   Be hopeful and be kind.

          What comes next is better
          than sunshine in Seattle.


I wish you the best.

i still make an effort to take a
picture sitting on the back of the bronze
pig outside the pike place fish
market every time i'm in the big
city. not many people know this
but that pig has a name; rachel,
and she's seen more things than
most people in this ol' world.

break-up blows, make-up kisses,
the man walking alone at 1:30 AM without
a coat and gore-tex in the midst of a wet
winter ****** binge.
the new kid, the east coast kid
starting his jewelry biz in '86,
and kurt after he put washington state
on the map - knowing better
than anyone that fame made him
sick. the east coast kid's curly haired
3 month old daughter in august '98,
the 15 year old boy's face after his
chinese fake id scanned,
the invasion of the bloods,
the invasion of the crips,
the tear gas burning the corneas
of our eyes when we tried to
protest.

everyone else disappeared into
the atmosphere,
but she stayed.
and i have no doubt that
rachel, the bronze pig
that's stood in the same spot
at pike place market for
31 years
has got a soul
in there somewhere.

*-z. vega

I won't stand still
I won't do nothing
I won't be silent
I won't be rigid
I won't be inanimate
I will not pose for glory
I won't remain in my designated spot
I will not be pabulum
I will not join the flock
I will continue to follow the cadence of my heart
And I will continue forward

Never Say No
So naive, so gentle and so pure.
Pure of challenge, pure of respect, pure of confrontation and pure of expectation
Except in exceptional attire, but I accept you
You see life, is a puzzle;
A bunch of random, jagged edge pieces you have to form into a cohesive picture that appeases the public, but is also true to you.
“But what do you do with your gifts?” I ask rhetorically because it’s not up to me
It’s your picture.
And a stunning one at that.
I don’t doubt you will find your wave because the surf’s up and there plenty that will carry
Because I loved you before I knew you, and you knew that; and that’s why we are here
We’re all flawed. All we can do is be good and be better, and that goes for all now matter your personal temperature
So I wish you success, but always wonder;
“Could you have done more?”

Favorite no favors
How did you wings shade me from the darkness of the unknown?
Why have you been my charm?
Scarcely we challenge a dog’s bark, a bird’s flight or a hero’s dedication so why question your love?
Favorite no favors
Your fondness of me is frightening
Not in fear, but fascination of your fortitude, fortunately for me your admiration give me comfort within myself and us, so I welcome this gift
An “us” I have never known
Together an understanding, a passion and unwavering will with the strength of 5 fingers, synchronized and focused against any symbol of celebration four more than one because it takes two.
Me and you, Us over I, us not them, them not us because us is all,
All, in
Two hands, two legs, one brain, one heart and one goal
Us
Fate, good timing and growth bring us here and give us now
So I give you me.
No favors, only full appreciation and attention, for my favorite.