there's nothing wrong with living in the moment
when you know you're dying by the second.
and, while it's true that you can get hurt
if you let your guard down,
there's nothing wrong with living like tomorrow's going to come.
because it will come whether or not you're here to see it.
but you never know when your time will come to an end.
so why not let yourself hope?
let yourself dream.
because life isn't always peaches and cream.

the goal was to survive.
but the dream was to live.
I was ready to give it my all.
I just had to stay alive.
then, one day, my whole world came crashing down.
first, I lost someone I loved.
then, I lost myself.
cutting through my grief,
the demons in my head suggested I was better off dead.
but another voice said "you know that's not true."
that's when I remembered.
she always told me
"the goal is to survive but the dream is to live."
I was ready to give up.
but if it means I can keep her dream alive,
I will live. I will survive.

It'll never be easy
To say what you have to say.
To do what you need to do.
But that's why it's so important
that you see it through.

Not everyone has a mother or father.
Some don't have a sister or brother.
Some feel they don't have anyone.
Some worry they'll always be alone.
Like no one will ever love them.
Fight for them.
But what they don't realize is they have had all of that all along.
Because everyone has a heart.
A heart that beats for you.
Breaks with you.
Heals with you.
A heart that dies with you.
You always wondered
how you keep going.
It's because the heart is a fighter.
And you have a heart.
Which means you have
The heart of a fighter.
But it's up to you
to do something with it.

I wonder how much would change
I wonder how much we could do
If we stopped trying to rewind time.
Would you be happier?
Would your soul be more whole?
Would you feel more or less in control?
The truth is, nothing good can come
From living in the past
In a world where nothing
is meant to last

So many things went wrong.
So many things went right.
So many things keep me up at night.
But they aren't memories of us
or what we've been through.
What keeps me up at night
are the last words I said to you.

It's not easy to be me.
I don't imagine it's easy to be you.
It's not easy to be anything or anyone.
It's not easy to follow through.
It's not easy to give up. It's not easy to give in. It's not easy to keep people
from getting under your skin.
My point is, nothing is easy.
So, it's okay if you fail. Everyone's done it.
And just look where they are now.
Keep your head up, and you'll go far.

Dear stranger: it's no secret
that times have been hard for everyone.
But you're not everyone, are you?
Maybe you lost someone.
Maybe you lost yourself.
Maybe you've been asked to do more
than you signed up for. Whatever's going on,
I know it may seem like you're losing control. Like you don't have a choice.
However this poem finds you,
I hope you come to find that you DO
have a chance to have a choice.
A chance to raise your voice.
I hope that someday, you accept
that you are worthy of love.
That you stop feeling guilty you survived.
But most of all, I hope that someday,
you wake up and find yourself grateful and happy to be alive

"You don't understand"
"No, YOU don't understand!"
The truth is, none of us
can ever truly understand.
Because despite our need to be social,
to connect with each other,
our experiences, our feelings,
are ours alone. But that doesn't make connections we have with others any less meaningful. One more thing.
For what it's worth,
your feelings, your experiences, are valid.

Today, I'm conflicted:
I don't want to remember you
But I don't want to forget either.

You'll have more bad days than good.
You'll experience more pain
than you should have to.
At times, you'll feel broken; weak.
But you're stronger than you would think.
And when you find that strength,
that reason to stand,
you will come to understand
you have new responsibilities.
Responsibilities to yourself.
To the ones you let in.
Even responsibilities to the ones
who get under your skin.
You've come so far already,
but there's still so much to do.
I'll leave you to it.
I just want you to know I'm proud of you.

What does it mean to take a chance?
What does it mean to make a change?
What does it mean to be strange,
and why is it so scary?
"Where should I go? What should I do?"
"How should I know? I'm not you."
So many questions. So little time.
I guess the good thing is,
you get to decide the answers

The past is not the present
The present is not the future
Which means you can be
more than your past

To the dancer in the dark: what you do
isn't a walk in the park.
So don't be afraid to let someone
shine a light on you.
To the singer in the shower:
you know as well as anyone
how music can heal.
So let people hear your power.
To the sketchbook artist:
one person's trash is another's treasure.
So, please: don't throw something away
even if it doesn't give you pleasure.
To everyone else:
you all had dreams at some point.
If you're friends with artists, respect the hustle. Respect the passion.
Help keep the dream alive.
Because dreaming is still
how the strong survive.
But they can't do it all alone.

Someday, I may start moving on.
I know that's what you'd want.
But I need you to hear me when I say
"I ain't going nowhere."
I may grieve, but I'll never let
the memories leave. I'll never let the music die. And when times get tough,
I'll never forget I have an angel on my side

We all make mistakes. It's just a fact.
So why beat yourself up when it seems someone's always ready to kick you
when you're down?
Give the fires in your head a chance to die.
The stress and fear already make you
want to cry. But you know what?
It's okay to take a minute
and try to forgive yourself.
To let yourself off the hook.
Because you aren't responsible for everything that happens in your life.
And one more thing.
Remember that you'll never get the full story
on the first look.

Take a chance. Take a bow.
Take a walk with me now.
Take my hand. We'll take this world by storm. You will never be ignored again.
Take this life. Take control.
Who cares what the future holds?
Burn the bridges to the past.
The memories were never meant to last.
All we have is all we need.
Living in the moment feels so free.
But like all good things,
the time has come to say goodbye.
"Goodbye, 20s! We sure had one hell of a ride."

You can work until your fingers bleed,
but that won't give you a sense of pride.
You can cry til you can't see the sky,
but nothing will change
until you're ready to try again.
Sometimes, doing something too much
is worse than not doing it at all.
Like everything else, it's all about balance.
So, for your sanity's sake,
take the time to find your limits,
and listen to your body
when it tells you to take a break.

You will forget.
If you don't already, you will have regrets.
You will struggle. You will fall.
But you'll still keep going in spite of it all.
You will get angry. You may not understand. But that doesn't make you a failure,
or any less of a woman or man.
I know I'm not telling you anything new.
I just hope you take it easy on yourself
for going through things
everyone goes through.

You built the walls
to keep yourself safe.
But the question isn't
"will they come down."
The question is
will you LET them fall on top of you,
or MAKE them fall next to you?

Candles light the way to your destiny.
Will you lose yourself in the vision or the flame? The candles light the way to your destiny.
But you decide whether or not
you want to continue the game

Forgiveness will mean nothing
If you will not forgive yourself
Because it's okay if it's your fault.

In dreams, I've lived. In life, I'll die.
In dreams, I get to say "hello" again.
In life, I have to say goodbye.
In dreams, I'm not afraid.
But in life, I'm terrified.
Terrified of what I don't know. What I can't see.
Terrified I won't be who I'm meant to be.
But what if that's by design?
What if dreams are visions of heaven
and nightmares visions of hell?
I could sit here forever hypothesizing,
so I'll leave you with one final thought.
We tell each other to follow our dreams.
If dreams are visions of heaven,
maybe all of our failures, our efforts,
are not for naught.

Let me be clear: it will never be easy.
But it can get better.
But only if you give yourself a chance.
A chance to breathe. To grieve.
To love yourself.
To believe that things can get better.
A chance to believe in yourself.
In the end, it does come down to you
to take the first step.
But once you do, take your time.
You have the rest of your life to follow through.

I'm not going to ask you
to try to believe in something,
because I don't know what I believe myself.
I won't ask you to stop doing something because I don't know
what you're going through.
But what I will ask is for you to consider
that there are no right or wrong answers
to questions you have.
Because every life is different.
We may share similar experiences,
but we learn different lessons
from those experiences.
So, next time your views are challenged, instead of frustration, consider empathy

I'm sorry; I don't mean to pry.
But could someone please tell me why
it's so embarrassing to cry?
How many times have we said "I'm sorry"
only to say "babe, don't worry"
when it's the other way around?
Why do we have empathy for the wolves
when we cry for the same reasons?
Why are we so afraid to show our feelings
that we make up lies, like,
"it's the changing of the seasons"?
The behavior of a generation
won't change overnight.
But we need to start working
on being comfortable with expressing ourselves when something's not right.

Why am I still standing here
When there is nothing to stand for?
Because I hope someday there will be.

I saw the world the way I saw myself:
a reflection. A reflection of how I thought people looked at the world; me.
I thought everyone else knew better than me. So, they had to be right.
But I realized that's not healthy.
Because they are not you.
Even if you tell them,
they will never understand
what you are going through.
Because they are not you.
Your decisions, your life,
are yours and yours alone.
But make no mistake.
If you ever want help, please,
don't be afraid to pick up the phone.

You seek Opportunities
But if you work hard, be patient,
Opportunities will look for you.

Don't worry about trying to change the world
by yourself; that's a job for all of us.
If you want to change something,
try changing your world first.
And even if it seems small, celebrate it. Because any change you can make
is often the biggest change of all.

I didn't say "I love you."
I didn't say I cared.
I didn't say much of anything because, honestly, I was scared.
Scared I'd say the wrong thing.
So, I thought it'd be better
if I said nothing at all.
BuIt now, I'll say everything.
Because you deserved to hear it all.

The beautiful, albeit sometimes annoying
part about people, is that there are so many different perspectives. So, while it may be true that it seems like everything's
been said or done, don't let that discourage you if you have something you want to say. Because it hasn't been said or done by you

What I saw didn't change me
What I believed didn't change me
The people I let love me changed me.

As my body gets weaker,
my mind grows stronger.
But I can't help but wonder how much longer my heart can hold on.
Hold on to the faith, to the dream.
But more than anything,
I wonder how much longer the love in my heart can hold on to me

You can have fun with a friend.
You can have fun in the sun.
You can have fun anywhere with anyone!
You can have fun by yourself.
You can have fun while getting work done.
But wherever, however, or whoever
you have fun with, remember this:
the noblest art is making others happy.
And that includes you.

Life doesn't apologize
Love won't apologize either
You shouldn't have to apologize.

Every day, I wake up
and im reminded of the mistakes I've made.
Every day, I wake up
lying in the mess I've made.
Every day, I wake up, and I pray for some relief. But at the end of the day,
the only thing I'm gifted with is more grief.
I want to get better,
but I need to get out of my head.
Even if it's just one night,
can I sleep in your bed?

We don't need to save the world
We don't need to save each other
We need to save ourselves from ourselves

Things change every day
whether we like it or not.
That's why it's so important
to work with what we've got.
Because one day, they just might pave paradise to put up a parking lot

No one said life was easy
No one said we have enough time
And yet, we still work with what we've got.

I'll give it one more day. One more time.
One more step. One more try. One more smile. One more laugh. One more hug. One more kiss. One more shot at happiness.
Just in case the next one
is the one that matters

Nobody sees everything;
Some are blinded by the darkness
While others are blinded by the light.

How can I build you up?
How can I break you down?
How can I make you see
That you are safe and sound
With me

My 400th poem
Sleep

At this point in life, I don't really care
whether I'm wrong or right.
I'll be whoever, whatever I have to be.
As long as I can fall asleep at night.

I don't see how it could get better.
But I don't see how it could be worse either.
Am I trying too hard or not enough?
What if it's both?
What if all the answers
are in the space between?
We always say there's 2 sides to every story. What if the truth is in the middle?

I may not be going anywhere fast.
But you can bet wherever I go, I won't be last. Because life is not a race; There's no shame with living life at your own pace.
It doesn't matter if you don't move out,
get married, or have a kid until you're 32.
You still have time to make the most of the time you have with the people you love
who love you too.

I can't stand being alone.
So, to cope, I remind myself
That sometimes,
there are some things you have to do alone.

If the rain fell like my tears,
I wonder if I would ever
See the sun, the sky, the moon again.

It's not about the love or the hate.
It's about being able to resonate.
It's not about the fame, fortune, or gold.
It's about trying to tell a story in a world
where it seems every story's already been told. And don't be afraid to tell us
if you don't understand. We get it.
No one is going to relate to every painting, movie, or band.
At the end of the day, all we want to do
is help you escape.
And if we inspire or entertain you
along the way, then all the pain is worth it.
No matter what the naysayers say.

Anyone can save a life
All you have to do is listen
And remind people that they are loved.