Just be you.
That's what they all say to do.
And anytime that you say
That you don't like something
That you find in the mirror,
They say that they don't wanna hear it.
But what if being you is ****?
What if you don't like what you find in your soul,
And you wanna change it?
Be happy with who you are
Is going too far.
Because we should be able to hear
When our gears
Don't tick with time.
And when our words don't rhyme,
We should stop.
And rewrite.
Recreate.
And never settle for the wrong
Until we find what's right.
Be who you are
Discounts the amount of power
We have over ourselves.
Because we are not the same
As when we were first given our name,
And we shouldn't try to be.
You and I should be free
To decide what it means to be you and me,
And not leave it all to destiny.
None of us is perfect,
So it's okay to reject
Those things we find suspect.
And find something a little
More worthy of our respect.

There are moments, after the credits roll,
Lying next to you, keeping away the cold,
That the screen fades to black,
But we both still stare,
And I see you as if for the first time
Through the glare.
You're far more beautiful in the reflection
Than I can remember before.

They teach you wrong,
The way to piece things together.
Just like all things,
It's different when you get here.

"You start from the corners.
And you look at the box.
If you start from the middle,
You're bound to get lost."

En media res,
Is the choice of the author,
And not the character.
I haven't decided which she is,
But I began in the middle with her.

No box and no corners,
And the pieces change as they fall.
Maybe it's not the way they got wrong,
But the need to finish it at all.

I threw a coin off the ledge and when it struck the ground
It was perfect
The sound was all worth it
Because I feel this beat of the Earth
It's like the beat of a drum
A steady pur um pum pum
Like the world is alive
Its playing its music live
And if you only take the time
You'll hear it's beat and it's rhyme

I threw my wallet off the ledge and when it struck the ground
It was perfect
I needed a louder sound
To join in with the planet
Sitting in the audience is something I can't stand
It's so much much better to join in with the band.
And my wallet it kept that steady beat
Louder than the tapping of my feet
After that fall, so much more sweet.

I threw my radio, my backpack, my spare tire
Off the ledge and when they each struck the ground
It was perfect
The song deserved this.
It was so loud with no one around to hear it.
But the steady beat went on.
The Earth in its constant drum
Pur um pum pum,
Pur um pum pum.
Nothing has such beauty as that constant hum.
But it can't be over yet, it can't be done.

I threw myself off the ledge, and when I struck the ground,
I was perfect.

You're scared, I know.
Or at least, you're unsure.
And everyone tells you you should
Be unsteady and insecure.

They say that it'll be hard.
They say it will change you forever.
And that there's no way of avoiding it
No matter how smart or clever.

But the thing about scare tactics
Is they just plain don't work
And the way you handle this thing
Isn't like him or her.

You've got your own struggle
And your own piece of cake.
So to handle it like they did,
Is a solution that's fake.

So maybe you need an extra hour
Of sleep.
Or maybe your test score relates to
How many friends you keep.

Maybe you work best
Under pressure.
Or maybe it's order
That gives you true pleasure.

The advice that I'll give you is just
To be true.
And to do whatever the Hell
Helps you be you.
To ask for help if needed
And sometimes to struggle through.
To learn to know yourself
Through and through.

So maybe Friday nights a party.
Or maybe it's a book.
De-stress with some TV
Or learn how to cook.
And never worry about when someone says
How long that assignment took.
Because for you it may be shorter
Or take a few extra looks.

And don't you worry about what THEY got
On that test.
So long as you're working hard
To do YOUR best.

Don't say "He did it."
Dont think "She seems ahead."
That type of thinking will just
Fester in your head.

Because you've got what it takes
Or you wouldn't be here.
Though we all joke about it,
A few things are clear:

You aren't just lucky.
You did a few things right.
You showed them your stuff,
Put up a **** good fight.

So you've earned your place.
And no one can take it.
And I have no doubts in my mind
That you ALL can make it.

So maybe it will be hard,
And you'll probably change.
But never expect it to be like us
Because nothing is ever quite the same.

And you get to decide what tests you
And what your biggest enemies are.
Because living someone else's life
Won't get you very far.

But we're here for a few things,
Only one is this advice.
The others are the hard days
And the endless nights.

We're here for the heartbreak
And the tears that may fall
Though remember that we're also
Here for the happy phone calls.

We want to help pick you up
When you think that you're beat.
Because once you stand back up,
There's no way you won't succeed.

So maybe these words
Have been little use.
And maybe my generalities
Are a little obtuse.

But keep in mind
That my ears don't speak in rhyme.
And I promise you they at least
Have always got time.

I'm a call or text away
And I'm not the only one.
You've already got a family here,
And you've only just begun.

She walked away
I mean who can blame her
It's not like I gave her any reason to stay here.
We both knew that the night was bound to end.
Really what's the use of trying to pretend
Wait, but I'm not pretending.
Guess you get so used to the same ending.
With the same girl and the same late night,
The same morning gone at first light.
But not now, not this, not the same.
So used to playin that i couldn't tell when I lost the game.
And now it's like I've got some pieces missin'
Must have been that last kiss she gave me.

And now I can't get that dress outta my head,
Same one she was wearing last night when we met.
The one she left in without a word being said,
But a smile and a quick nod instead.
Usually that would be finality
Last scene, show ends, wake up, go back to sleep a different dream.

But I miss the feel of her clothes
Her sweet fragrance lingering in my nose
My feet are cold not entangled in her toes
Guess that's why they say without the thorns there ain't a rose.

Maybe she's not gone too far,
And if I run outside she'll be standing by her car.
And I'll tell her to wait and a few more moments, another day.
Never ever let this chance pass away.

Maybe I'll go back to the bar.
And she'll be sitting there, just the same.
Like some work of art.
The type that's almost better if you stay where you are,
And not try to think the scene needs another part.
But I'd walk up,
And maybe she'd see me as I came.
Maybe she'd have asked the bartender if he knew my name.
How often it was that I ever came.
She'd be looking at the door hoping that it'd be the same.

Maybe I'll go another two years,
Wishing more than anything that I could just see her.
And just when she almost skipped out of my mind,
There'd she be, on the street, passing the time.
Or waiting in some concert line.
Maybe she'd be at a party for a friend of mine.

She would know like me that this was a sign
And that these things don't just happen without some plan in mind.
It's not too often that two hearts beat in time,
That two lights have the same beem to shine.

But she left.
******* who can blame her.
Now I don't even have a last name to find her
All I've got is a memory remainder
Didn't leave anything to remind me of her.
For the most part it's just the same world.
Except the part of me that fell for a strange girl.
I'll walk outside, go back to the bar.
Walk street to street to street no matter how far.
Can't believe I let her cause such a stir,
Thought my armor was far too thick to get hurt.
But she stuck like glue to my mind,
Now I can't imagine this life unless I find,
Her.

Flicker.
Fluorescent lamp
Steals my attention
From this music which has too little hold on me to be worth a mention,
Flicker.
Without it I'd never notice
The light cast in the dim room
Which seems to somehow contribute to darkness,
Like you need some sort of visibility to perceive gloom.

Hollow
The eyes of a painting
Forget the reason I came here.
All there is now is the space an iris should be
A pupil seems more meaningful when surrounded by blue brown or green.
But what do you put inside a hollow eye?
Absence is simply presence waiting to be realized.
Too many choices
Flicker, in such a small size.
The freedom is paralyzing.
More can be held in empty spaces than I ever dreamed to find.
Hollow
Is more than meaningful.
It is possible.
Infinitely wonderful
Wonderfully infinite.
Flicker.

My eyes to
Smoke.
Rising from tea too hot.
You can see it better when you can't taste it.
Wasted,
This smoke, the side effect of the perfect
Cup of tea.
So quickly it flees
From the sea, beneath.
With a beauty that the liquid
Does not hold
When it is cold.
Never drink it,
Don't waste this moment
On the taste,
That can be replaced.
Smoke
Will never again rise the same.
Curl, twist, split,
Cannot be tamed,
Like so many beautiful things,
Which never remain.
Temporary,
They only
Flicker.