I can see soul

We are ordinary people

We are strong

We are brave

We are lovers

We have hate

We are freed

We are tied

We are finders

We are found

We can see

We can sing

We can smile

We can cry

And I know

in my heart

that the truth is

we all die.

But before

we all go

we are people

and we grow.

Something

is what we're searching for

some thing to describe

who we are

what we are

how we're special.

But, something is a throwaway word

the word we use to describe the shit we don't care about.

Still, something is something special too;

it's all we have to describe the unknown:

what love is

how to find yourself

feeling alive.

Something is something confusing,

and all I need right now:

something to hold onto.

untitled 2 7-7-10

What doesn't happen doesn't matter

nor does what we want necessarily count.

Our lives are not meant for regret.

I'm here to say let this moment pass.

Let this feeling of worthlessness and rejection

be something of the past.

Let the moment pass.

But heed this warning:

do not let them restrict your desire.

Please, want. Dream big.

Let your heart soar

like the kites we used to fly

when dreams were reality.

I want to write.

So, for today I'm a writer.

I'll not let you take that from me.

I'm creating my destiny.

untitled 1 7-7-10

sometimes you knock

but no one comes out

sometimes you think up a poem

but have no pen to write it down

sometimes you think you're strong

but get knocked down

sometimes you think you're smart

but get showed up

sometimes you wonder why

and you wanna cry

but don't waste tears.

sometimes life sucks

but you've gotta try

a movement to normalcy

My greatest fears:

abandonment

and feeling weird.

Last night, I faced both.

We went to the bridge.

Blue candy mixed with Mountain Dew

made the lights magical.

My friends made them real.

I almost didn't go.

I left my room to find them

gone, but my fears were

unwarranted. "We never

left you, and we aren't going to.

Now, come back here; we miss you."

And so I went,

to hop a fence and sit and watch

bright lights reflect on moving water.

We talked of home and crushes,

embarrassments and favorite music.

We laughed and listened,

stayed silent and felt the wind on our skin.

You know, I'm not normal,

but that's okay.

Daniel says to ride the weird.

I'm interesting and exciting,

and that's ridiculously good.

I'm interesting and exciting...

the thought of it is pleasing.

at some point it doesn't matter what you think

She wrote love on his arm

because she loved Tommy.

She loves Tommy.

I love him too,

though I know not who he is.

This world was made for love.

When I sit alone and think of

all the pain that people feel,

I know this world was made for love.

He walked up to me after the sun

began to dry a Spring downpour.

Would you write love on me?

That's my job,

I think.

I am here to love.

I am here to talk.

I am here to care.

Being alone shouldn't have to suck.

catching wind

there are leaves on my notebook,

which somehow remind me of summer

and breezes and watching trees

through the screen of my back-door.

Trees have leaves that bend and flatter

if touched by the grace of wind.

I've felt like the leaves.

When I'm in a car and the roof

is open. When the wind ruffles my hair.

When I'm standing in a river of the Plains.

When all the world feels right

because some force is guiding me along.

When I exist and think of nothing.

These are the times I feel the wind.

There are the moments without struggle.

These are the moments we cannot bottle.

worthless ramblings about worth over break

I sit in my room listening to poetry

thinking this could be my life

but what does it mean to be a receptor of poetry?

I know that I am

but I don't have misery to compare

to the black men living in the poor of their era.

I know that I am.

I am I am

I am alive

but is my story worth telling

in the makeup of this universe

WHO CARES

who cares about the struggles

of collegiate life

when my parents lived on the streets

on the run

I know that I am

but what does it mean to be Puerto Rican

when my mother and father lived strugglin harder

that I can imagine

I know that I am

but I am not a child solder in Nigeria

I am not starving in Indonesia

so does my story really matter?

I know that I am.

Heavy & Light

if this one goes out to

the fat girls and wimpy boys,

and everyone in between,

then this one goes out to you-

and... this one goes out to me.

He demands that we shake

the dust, and that is what

we do tonight. It is in

their energy that we can laugh,

and in their pain that we are silent.

Jamie apologizes for his awkward

title. I know in doing so

that we are not alone.

Because, we all worry about

paying the bills, and we

all want to fall in love when

the weather is just right.

We all want to scream the words

and stomp our feet. And that,

that we did tonight, when the

sky was heavy and our hearts were light.

doctor's office flower bouquet

red roses coupled pink

graced with baby's breath in between

you're frozen there eternally

I'm withering hopelessly

optional

optional experiences are presented daily. why is it i prefer the comfort of mundanity? the great perhaps cannot be reached without a foray into the possibility of optional possibilities

Love Is The Movement

Love is the movement. Love is my movement towards being me, towards being free. Love is the movement that once displayed openly lets me feel fine, teaches others to be alive.

Chicago's river seen from the train in July

the river glitters in filament light. somehow, its ripples aren't sad. I think it's possible to obtain a greater perhaps than our chance, but how do we break free of the mundanity? Do we choose our combined humanity?

Stagnation.Dread.Feeling.Crying.Felt

it's the feeling of stagnation or maybe it's dread no it's not that I don't know quite yet it's the feeling that had I been someone else I would know this feeling extinct now it's the feeling of feeling which feels a lot like crying we're old friends this feeling and I It's funny that you never see me cry and now it's the feeling of having felt all there is I need to feel and the only thing left is to get up and shout that I finally got this feeling out

when our two hearts closely pound

okay,

but I warn you I'm crazy

actually, I am

like one minute happy

the next minute sad

like one second there

and the next nowhere

cuz my life is a coaster

but I'll try to stall still

I'll try to stay solid

and hold to the ground

but I warn you I'm flying

and to me, the ground can't be found

and what if I tell you that

all that is only normal

that I cry alone in my darkened room

when my life is free of all possible gloom

and I run after midnight

because suddenly I'm blue

maybe, just maybe, I'm perfect for you

maybe, just maybe,

life wasn't meant to be normal

and crazy is true

maybe love's perfect

and it's the only ground around

it's that grating feeling eating at your every nerve you don't know to what to ascribe it there is no cure to prescribe it except to get out and live and throw your worries to the wind

there i go again letting my obsessions take control i don't want my computer to own me i want to stand alone

clamors greedily at possessions to realize no necessity when i live with nothing but contempt in my arms I'll find glory in your loving grace

when I learned to run I ran for the touch of wind through my hair when I learned to swim I swam for the caress of water on my skin when I learned to sing I sang for the joy of life within when I learned to dance I danced for the freedom vindicated now that I'm old I've forgotten the meaning if only I could regain that wondrous feeling

well what am I without tradition am I free or more tightly bound I do not need your stinkin tradition I need only find my own train of thought