This is one of those love poems
That young lovers tend to write
When they find that special someone
They think about morning, noon, and night

When the dull world that they once knew
Shines a brighter shade
Like any other love poem that you've read
On any other given day

It talks about when the one you love
Turns around and smiles
How with the kiss of wind the clouds disappear
And the sun comes shining out

Filled with a sugary sweetness
That drips from off the page
Though you've heard this in every love poem before
It still has the need to say

There's an essence to your beauty
How life sparkles when you smile
The way it is I feel for you
Is what this poem is all about

And though it's all been said before
In many poems up to this day
Thought I'd go ahead and take this chance
To say it any way

There is a bit of difference
And the evidence does hold true
This poem your holding in your hands
Was written especially for you

I'd stay up late to write poetry, talk to someone I care a lot about, watch a good movie, listen to a new album, look at the stars, ponder my life, walk around my neighborhood, wait up for my dad to get home so I can tell him I appreciate how he works late to support my family.

Then again, you won't see me stay up too late to finish homework these days. Granted I'm a senior and homework was never too much of a priority in the first place, but I just don't care enough. Homework doesn't fill me like poetry or nightly walks do.

My point is that the things you care most about, the things you are passionate about keep you up at night; these things are worth losing sleep over. These things override your basic need to sleep, and if that isn't an indication to what is important to you then I don't know what is. Because on a lighter note, sleep is pretty high up on my list of "Things I care about".

Pack up your things,
Pack up your dreams,
Pack up your courage,
We're ready to leave.

We are ready to leave the comfort
Of our homes and routines;
We are ready to leave behind
All that steals our time, fleeing the feinds.

We are ready to explore
And walk out on our own
Into the great world,
To places unknown.

We are ready to only leave
Our foot prints where we walked,
We are ready to only carry memories
Of those with whom we have talked.

New places, new experiences;
That's all we crave
New voices, new faces;
To leave behind the familiar ones mean you have to be brave.

Pack up your bags,
Leave behind your doubts.
Embrace the unknown with open arms,
Walk with confidence and curiosity down your new route.

Pack up your life.
Store it under your bed, leave it behind,
Because once you get out in the world,
You'll realize there is so much more to find.

I can remember growing up in my car
That year of not so sweet sixteen
As my line of sight aligned with my knuckles and
Further to the cyclops viewfinder windshield
That showed me the world through its
Cracks of heat expansion and cold contraction

I remember getting ice cream with a girl once and
Realizing that high school never was one of Baskin Robbins 32 flavors
Maybe that's why I never bought into it or liked the taste
Feeling it to be a waste of time

I remember driving by the school
Bright and early in morning
Deciding today was not my day and I'm not going
Because I was always too cool
Or more accurately too foolish to see the point of it all

I remember drug filled days passing by in a daze slowly but surely
But in my mind they drift by like a cigarette drag in my memory
Subsequently with each inhale and exhale

I remember the day I chose to walk the halls like a ghost and
Make as little impact as I possible
As far as I'm concerned I was fairly successful

I remember not knowing what it meant to be a sophomore
Only that as the pain progressed I was beginning to feel more and more soft

It's hard being the ****** in the vehicle
It's a vicious vessel to handle

Four grades in a classroom
Three years in my backseat
Two days in jail
One life to live

When I was sixteen
I wish this wasn't the future
Now it's my past

I rewound the memory
A minds eye film of my heart on fire
One of my favorites to replay

I see it frame by frame
As if I were pressing pause repeatedly
Aflame from friction
I can feel the heat fill the air
The sparks lick my imagination
Surrounding with its love and conviction

I've always been afraid to hit fast forward
Watch my passion swiftly burn and extinguish
Leaving behind my ashen anguish

But this time my feline curiosity gets the best of me and
Suddenly I'm seeing the amber glow
Grow at double speed
Getting brighter and brighter
As the seconds keep accelerating

The warm ember a beacon
Illuminating our kindled future
Proving my worries wrong

Instead of dimming and losing life
My heart will be hotter ignited
Each moment we are together
Beside each other
Alive

If you are a lover of words,
you’d understand the
beautiful curse      that befell us,
those who strive and endeavor
with a passion planted inside us
that flourishes and thrives.
Like Athena and her web,
our webs are made of
hundreds of words, woven with
our pencils like needles,
and so we get better at
sewing our works.

A girl
once loved words
wholeheartedly,
but occasionally tried
to let love go
before sewing poems
became her favorite thing
and nothing more.