In the silence of the moment, when the world fades away,
Your presence wraps around me, like the soft light of day.
No need for words between us, we’ve always understood,
That every breath we take together, is a memory of good.
We’ve painted skies in colors, no one else could ever see,
Shared secrets in the quiet, where our hearts are wild and free.
With every step you take, the world feels just a little right,
A friendship built on moments that will last beyond the night.
Grace, like ivy, we’ve wrapped ourselves in time,
In the shadows of our whispers, where the world won’t find.
In the park at midnight, where the stars were all we knew,
We counted every constellation, just me and you.
At 12 AM, our hearts would race, like time was standing still,
With every wish we whispered, the world could never break our will.
Grace, you were my universe, my dream beneath the sky,
At that moment, I believed that time could never say goodbye
We wandered through the echoes, where the world was just our sound,
In every step, we found our place, where love would always surround us.
In the quiet of the night, when the stars began to fade,
We promised each other forever, in the memories we made.
Through seasons that would change us, we remained the same,
In every storm, we found the calm, calling each other’s name.
We’d dance in fields of memories, where the light would never die,
With every step we took together, we touched the endless sky.
Grace, in every heartbeat, I feel you by my side,
Like whispers in the twilight, where no secrets can hide.
In the park at midnight, where the stars were all we knew,
We counted every constellation, just me and you.
At 12 AM, our hearts would race, like time was standing still,
With every wish we whispered, the world could never break our will.
Grace, you were my universe, my dream beneath the sky,
At that moment, I believed that time could never say goodbye
And when the world fades away, and the skies begin to fall,
I’ll still hear your voice whispering, through every shadowed call.
Grace, you’re the fire that burns, the wind beneath my wings,
In the quiet of the night, you’re the song my heart still sings.
Through the storms that try to break us, we will never bend,
For in every twist of fate, you’ll always be my friend.
No matter where we wander, no matter where we roam,
In the silence of the universe, with you, I’m always home.
You’re the echo in my chest, the pulse that keeps me alive,
In the vastness of this world, with you, I’ll always survive.
Time will try to change us, but our hearts will stay the same,
For in every fleeting moment, we’ll be forever framed.
Grace, you’re my constant star, my light in the darkest skies,
And in the end, we’ll soar together, no more goodbyes.

She was only five when the teacher said,
“Write your name, it’s time to learn.”
But what she felt was something else—
Like fire blooming with each word.
The pencil danced across the page,
Her tiny hands began to glow.
While others traced a simple name,
She wrote a world no one would know.
She fell in love with lines and rhymes,
With paper dreams and silent times.
Her heart spoke louder through the ink,
Each verse a breath she’d learn to think.
Down the starlight path she ran,
With notebooks clutched inside her hand.
The world was big, but she believed,
Those words could build the life she dreamed.
She wrote through storms, she wrote through pain,
In every loss, she found a gain.
Now the stars are singing back—
She’s the girl who walked the starlight path.
She sat between her sisters four,
The backseat like a traveling world.
With every mile, the silence spoke,
So she wrote the words she never told.
Outside, the trees were flying fast,
Inside, her thoughts were built to last.
While laughter danced and voices roared,
She let her pencil paint her soul.
She pressed her notebook to her knees,
And captured feelings in the breeze.
The car became her sacred space—
A moving world, a writer’s place.
At fourteen, she held a trembling pen,
But every word was truth back then.
She wrote of fear, she wrote of flight,
Of lonely thoughts on moving nights.
Then came the day—her name was called,
She’d won it all, against the odds.
The poems born from backseat roads,
Now echoed loud in quiet halls.
Regional crown, department-wide,
Tears in her mama’s softened eyes.
But no one saw the countless pages,
The silent work, the secret stages.
She smiled shy, they clapped and cheered,
But deep inside, she held back tears.
Not 'cause she doubted what she'd earned,
But for the fire that still burned.
At fifteen, no guitar in hand,
But in her mind, a dream so grand.
Her words became a melody,
Without a note, but still so free.
She hummed her poems, softly loud,
Her head filled with a growing sound.
No piano keys, no strings to play,
But in her heart, she found a way.
She'd sing them quietly in her room,
Imagining each note would bloom.
Her words were music, pure and true,
A melody only she could view.
Her sisters shrugged, her parents sighed,
“Why can’t you let the silence slide?”
But her little sister, with eyes so wide,
Said, “Keep singing, sis, don’t run and hide.”

Through every rhyme, she found her voice,
In every line, she made her choice.
The starlight path, it called her name,
She walked it through the joy and pain.
No map to guide, just heart and mind,
Her dreams were stars she’d never find.
But still she reached, beyond the night,
For every word, a step to light.

you’re the ghost
of the younger you
as you float
down the stairway

catch your eye
you crack a smile
we sit and pine
for a while

down the drain
pour the coffee that
we didn’t drink
too cold

hear the girl
in the stereo
singing tunes
from long ago

don’t lie to me my friend
are we really at the end?
should’ve dressed for the event
but i know we’ll meet again

i’ll wear something black and red
you’ll apply my favorite scent
and if still we both forget
then i’ve loved you ’til the end

i’m the wraith
of the younger me
as i joke
to see you laughing

hear the boy
on the radio
as your gaze
meets the door

don’t lie to me my friend
are the waves upon the sand?
they may rip you from my hand
but i know we’ll meet again

and i’ll wear my darkest cape
you’ll put on your finest lace
and if still we should forget
then i’ve loved you ’til the end

When you were younger,
maybe you were told to hold your tongue,
hold your breath until you got older.
But now that you're here,
now that you've figured out how
and when to say what you want to say, someone has given you the same advice.
So once again, you hold your breath,
even though it hurts and scares you.
And now, you wonder "what's next?"
Now, I'm going to be the one giving advice:
if you want to be confident, independent,
and able to stand up for yourself,
understand that you're the only one
who can give you permission to breathe,
and you've earned it.

She always wanted to be her older self
Taller, smarter, stronger, prettier
Looking in the mirror she strove
to be that person, everybody loved
a head turner.

Today she looked again.
Reflecting off were bigger goals -
Striving to be even older, even smarter
More compelling, both chaos and order
Achieving every dream, her fire burnt brighter

Little did she know, the girl in the mirror
was what she wished for, years earlier
While wanting to be better, aiming higher
she forgot to see that she really was
the perfect person she once desired.

i don't know why im writing this. but i used to write every so often when i was younger.
i am turning 18.
it almost feels like a fever dream. i never felt this frightened my whole life.
is my life really starting? is this the beginning of a decade?
where am i gonna be after this? how am i gonna feel?

you see, growing up, it's that just simple.
nothing changes, and you still gotta wait for something to.
it doesn't magically happens.

and i hate waiting.
i wanna be older and free.
but, most of the time i wish life was simpler like when i was younger.

Sitting on my porch with a messy bun atop my head, wearing shorts and an oversized t-shirt, spiral bound notebook in hand, and my knees up to my chest.

Reflecting on the years past, the bridges that I've built and the ones I've burned. It's interesting how seasons play such a big part of our lives. The weather is just one of those. It's cold outside, we change our clothes to warmer ones, light fires in the fireplace, drink warm drinks. It's hot outside, we change our clothes to cooler ones, swim in cool water, drink ice cold drinks. We are constantly trying to be exactly the opposite of our surroundings. Why?

Besides the general scientific fact of hypothermia and heat exhaustion, we not only change who we are in season of weather but in seasons of life. When we are in high school, all we do is long to grow up. When we are grown, we miss those carefree nights catching fireflies in our backyard. When we need friends so bad that we would do anything, even reject who we are, to be important to someone. When we recognize our importance and that quality over quantity is key.

Life holds so many twists and turns. One can look back on the last 5 years of your life and see just how much you've changed, how those around you have changed and the changes that will come in the path ahead.

It's okay to not be the same, feel the same, or want the same things as you did 5 years ago. You didn't disappoint your younger self, you just grew. You grew into someone new that has been seasoned by life experience. At 17, maybe all you wanted was to go to college, get drunk, have tons of friends, and be free. At 32, all you need is a quiet home with space just for you and your art. You yourself are a season and it's perfectly okay to change.



-t.s.

I wrote a poem almost a year ago about wishing to be the girl who could just be happy without trying
And I want to tell year ago me that I’m almost there
There are still times when I overthink everything and I’m sure that there always will be
But, when you have someone with you who constantly tells you that you are perfect and beautiful and worth it, well their words start to sink in
I in no way believe I’m perfect
But I do know I’m happier and sometimes that’s all that matters