I am a minor miner girl
Searching for the diamond in each piece of coal
But sometimes all that is there is rock
No shining sparkle
But what girls like us minor miner girls
Don't realize is that we too shine
Those pieces of rock
Those lumps of coal
We throw our whole lives into
Trying to find their diamond
When it doesn't exist
At least not for us
We need to learn that we as individuals
Cannot press a lump so hard
And turn it to diamond
We need to see that
Nothing, absolutely nothing
Can hold us back
Except for us
So dear minor miner girls
Please realize your worth
And don't give your life to those lumps
Of what is really just dirt

You dared to bare your soul,
Expecting me to turn tail and run,
To grimace and turn away.
But instead I comforted you.
I assured you, we all have scars,
You have nothing to be ashamed of.
I will stay if you let me,
I'll be your sword,
Your shield,
And maybe...
Your home.

We flip reverse
Transpose and translate
Switch the words around
Theives and pretenders
Just dying with our time on earth
Heaven pounding in our hearts
And we only hear the hell drumming  in our ears
Love floating freely in the air
And none of us dare fill our lungs
Wasting our days away
Living in our shallow graves
Long before our flesh decays
Our bones already ground to dust
Slaves to sin
Just to make a wage
A pound of blood
For pennies on the hour
Flowers no longer bloom
Rotting roots in poisoned soil
The only things striving
The grease and the greed
Of the mighty dollar
And the gears of the war machine
Are none of us brave enough
To reverse and flip
Translate our disposition
Burn the dollar
**** the greed
Stop sacrificing our children
To the grease the gears
Of that ancient war machine
Heal the soil
Mend the flowers
Use our blood to sin
Wage to slave only for love
Dance madly with our bones
Fill our graves with dirt
Let our flesh live and ache and hurt
Use our days
To fill our lungs
Dare to love and love
And love
Listen and listen close
Hell and heaven pounding and beating together in the dark
Hey can't you hear it
As we walk our days on earth
Let us not pretend or steal
But give truth to love
And love to truth
By loving truthfully
And truthfully loving
Stop hiding
Start fighting
Stop stacking bricks
Around ourselves
Start throwing stones
At our jailers
Don't go with the masses
Dressed to the nines
But heads of *****
Mentally chained
To all think the same
Unable to translate
The silence
And switch the
World around
Doing the ***** work
For the crooks
And liars
Puppets for their
Masters
Drowning in the sand
Wasting fate
Hour by hour
As time flips
And reverses
Nothing changes
Nothing will
Until we brave
The darkness
Dare to
Dream
Break the
Chains of
Silence
And scream
With truth
And love
And love
And truth
Quickly
Before we're
No longer
Human

If you're reading this,
Good morning beautiful.
How did you sleep?
Well, I hope.
No need to hurry at all.
Let yourself wake slowly,
Take your time.
Today is bound to be a great day.
You can accomplish anything.
And I'll be waiting for you to tell me all about it later tonight.
Remember to grace the world with a smile,
It helps brighten the day of all those around you.
I know it does for me.
Remember I'm always here.
Nothing can get in your way.
Go get 'em.
-Mike

Hey, handsome.
I can't top the sweetness you left me, but I can try.
Do you know how big of an impact you've made on me?
Sit there a moment.
Reflect.
In the past two days I've felt more alive than ever.
As you stretch slightly and the corners of your mouth turn upwards in concentration, think of me.
Think of how it felt when you first saw my face.
And save that reaction.
Is it ludacris to want to end this note with 'I love you?'
I rest my case.
-Hannah

He pulls away, precariously balanced
above the raucous creek slicing through
the campground’s city-like togetherness

she protectively hovers, hands cupped
inches from his slender back, prepared to grab
honoring his need for independence

the crooked lodge pole leans
toward what little sun is bestowed
upon it by its larger brethren

a mother, a child
a tree, a stream
soft light.