Keep

When you feel like you're broken
and you've done all that you know how.
When you're out of ideas
and creativity has left you dry.

There are few things left to do at that point.

But I say,
keep discovering
and keep creating.
Draw small
and write slowly.
Keep loving
and keep going.
Keep feeling
and keep knowing.
Play soft music
and read short stories.
Keep trying
and failing
and keep starting over.
Keep writing in cursive
and doing what you love.
But most of all, don't forget, to keep being human.

Because you are real.

The less the better.

And I want to burst into tears with every word.

So let's keep this short.

Happy Birthday to Me

I'm sorry but no.

I

am

really

just not

ready for

this crazy life

ahead of me.

Don't make me 

blow out 18

candles.

Please  don't make me

pretend to know what

I'm doing. Please don't

make me get a desk job

or fall in love too soon.

I'm pretty sure that you
forgot to tell me how to
pay taxes or vote for the
president. What is HOA
 anyway?  don't give me
that cake. I don't  want
your cards full with cash
 Where are my crayons?
Where  are my coloring
 pages? My stickers and
glitterglue? I'm really not
ready  to be all  on  my
own. I still need to be an
 astronaut, and travel the
world. Or did you think
those dreams died with
the  flames of  candles
from birthdays long past?

Don't Say That Word

Why are you so afraid to say it?

Its not poisonous.

I'm gonna say it.

I'm gonna say it.

Deep breath...

Here goes nothing...

I Love you.

phew.

There. I said it.

You better appreciate that.

Because, well, i'm not gonna say it if I don't mean it.

But I Don't Want Things to Change

This is for the future.
And for the now that I already miss. 
But most of all, this is for childhood left behind
and all the simple cares that I've long forgotten.

Lets take a trip back,

to a time when the only moments that I got along with my siblings were while we were playing Legos on our lazy Sunday afternoons

To that day when my brother taught me how to play poker.

And when we had a crazy babysitter, who we just called "balloon man"

Back to when we'd leave our plastic pool out so long that the grass would turn brown

and when we'd eat fresh blueberries from our three little blueberry bushes.

When rolling down the hills at the park next to my Dad's work was a weekly activity.

and being first in the lunch line was all I really wanted.

Back when my brother would order us pizza so that we could get the free movie that came with it.

But I don't play Legos anymore, and I still fight with my siblings.

I've forgotten how to play poker, and I haven't seen my brother in four years.

I don't need a babysitter anymore,

and the only thing I know about my lawn is that it needs to be mowed once a week.

My blueberry bushes are long dead.

My Dad lost his job, and if I roll down hills I get uncomfortably dizzy.

I don't eat school lunch anymore,

and I don't get free movies.

Times have changed, and they seem to have changed me.

But now I want my Legos back.
I want my brother.
and my crazy babysitter

I want my backyard pool.
and my blueberries 
I want my rolling hills
and my school lunch 
and free movies.
I want my childhood
and my creativity.

But mostly, I just really want my crayons back.

Because Anything

Here's to the letters I write, but you will never receive, and the empty pages left to fill.
To the words that I'm not even aware of yet, and the words that will never even reach the page.
This is to the years left to live
and the people left to know.
The cities left to see
and the places left to go.

There is so much left to be done
and I want to do it.
Because life doesn't last as long as you think it does.
And because we can do  a n y t h i n g

A Short Love Poem

In case you were wondering, yes, I am thinking of you. 
I'm always thinking of you.

What I Cannot do

I am not a poet.
I am not a writer.
I am not the author that I dreamed I would be back in elementary.  Heck,
I don't even read anymore.
But,
I am an artist.
I want to put emotions on the page,
to give them a home.

And when I find the time to read a word or two,
I find power.  Because
Words bridge the gap between
Imagination
and
Inspiration.