My 500th poem, on my 9 year anniversary of writing. Perception of time.

It seems like nothing can humble you
faster than time. It affects everyone,
regardless of race, gender, or age.
And yet, it somehow feels personal
when bad things happen
depending on what stage of life we're in.
But what if it isn't time that changes us.
What if it's our perception of time
that changes us? When we're young,
time seems to move so slow.
But the older you get, all time sees to do
is go, go, go. What if we never lose
or run out of time.
What if it's the stress of living that's committing the crime of breaking us down.

People can be mean. People can be kind. People can be calm. But when stressed,
they can feel like they're losing their minds. People can be right. People can be wrong. People can learn. Some people find out
there's more than one way to be strong.
People can be happy.
People can be depressed.
Sometimes, people need to hear
"your best is enough."
People can be heroes.
People can do hard things.
But you're not just people. You're you.
Which means you can be or do
almost anything.

Time. Death. Faith. Hope.
Sometimes, the things we can't see make the biggest impact on the things we do.

It's been said that the eyes
are windows to the soul.
If you believe this is true, remember:
windows can be tinted.

Things don't matter until they do.
I learned that the day I lost you.

My clothes
My body
My identity
These are not reflections of me
They're extensions of me

I know. I've been holding on
to things I should let go of.
Lost memories. Lost life. Lost love.
But, as scary and painful as it can be
being lost in the past, knowing how evanescent the mind can be, a future without them somehow seems worse.