The Rose That Runs Your Life

Author's Note: This piece is very personal to me, because even though I am not these people I put a little bit of myself and how I feel into each character.  I hope you appreciate this piece for what it really is, a message to students in Middle School and High School.  This is a message for people to open their eyes and see that there are people struggling right in their peer group

A meadow of flowers sways in the breeze yet,  there is but one flower that does not move.  It is independent; free.  It is as white as the purest silk, petals flawlessly shaped, like raindrops falling from the sky.  Each soft petal overlapping another.  Along the stem, small thorns peek out at you.  The thorns protect this beautiful piece of nature, from the harm that this cruel world brings.  This flower brings out the beauty in the world that is hidden ever so well.  You slowly walk up to it, stepping on the rejected flowers of the meadow. The rose stands defiantly, waiting for your hands; you start walking faster, but the rose does not get closer.  Your hands start shaking; your mind is racing.  Why can you not reach this beauty?  The rose just keeps getting further and further away.  

This is the world we live in.  We make it look like the picture of beauty, when in reality it is collapsing in on itself.  There’s more to our downfall than the debt and other government related problems though.   What about the teenagers wandering through the world with a blindfold on?  Being aware of the problem is one thing, but taking action is another.  Teenagers are the country’s soon to be adults, but without the right guidance and support many won’t make it.  

A girl walks through school tugging on her sleeves so nobody will see her scars.  Deep down she wants somebody to notice this, but everybody just passes her by.  This girl is on the edge of the cliff, one step away from pummeling down to the steep, jagged rocks below.  You may think, what is one life going to do?  That girl could have very well been the President of the United States, solving our nation’s debt problems, but it’s too late now.  The depression has pushed her off of the edge and she just keeps falling.  

A shy boy walks down the same hallway, avoiding eye contact and staying below the radar.  He is different.  He is not into sports or video games, he loves to read and write.  The other guys think this is hilarious and he is the butt of the jokes.  This boy simply holds in his tears in and pushes through the hallway.  He is also on the edge.  Again, what is one life going to do?  This boy could have grown up to write a book on the meaning of life, that inspired millions, but it’s too late.  He has been pushed off the edge and there’s nothing that can be done.  

Another girl walks through the hallway, squeezing between people.  She makes her way to the bathroom and closes the stall.  She carefully lifts up her shirt and peers at her stomach, normal people would see a flat stomach, with ribs just poking through, but she sees fat that needs to be shed.  No lunch for her.  Her confidence is so far below the chart, it just up and left.  Other girls know she is anorexic, but what do they do?  They laugh at the lack of food on her tray and her bony composure.  This girl is on the edge, ready to fall off.  What is one life going to do you ask?  This girl could have been a front runner in fashion, setting trends like there was no tomorrow, but it is too late.  She’s falling and there’s no way to get her back up.  

In the end, three lives have been lost and there’s nothing that can be done.  That flower was the acceptance these people were reaching for, but sadly could not grasp.  The deed is done.  Do you still ask: “It’s just one life, what’s the big deal?”  If so, you need a reality check.  Each life is a precious glass heart carried through the raging storms of life.  Some make it, some just tread water, and some are pushed, off the edge.  

My Two Cents on Kindness

Author's Note:  I don't write a lot besides poetry, because it's what I'm comfortable with, but today I stepped out of my comfort zone to share this piece that I wrote.  I composed this at about 9:00 last night.  My eyes were sleepy, but my mind and heart were awake with this moment.  

Tonight I experienced true kindness.  Not that fake stuff we tend to use at school or in the workplace. The kind that only comes by once in awhile, like a shooting star.  It happened when my Dad and I were leaving Office Max.  We came up to an intersection where we had to turn right.  My Dad has a small truck and the roads were icy and slushy.  Get the picture?  Let me paint it for you.  We could not turn because the tires were spinning.  I noticed the two blinding heights of a minivan behind us.  My dad let out a curse under his breath and tried again, but he still spun.  I got a little nervous, because I’m just a nervous person, but that’s beside the point.  I watched puzzled as my dad cracked his door and motioned his hand for the guy to go around.  The van backed up and pulled up next to us.  I expected a few curses, or rude gestures but instead the man rolled down his passenger window.  My dad followed suit with the same confused expression as I.  I felt the sharp winter air as the man behind the wheel spoke.  He said a few words that made spread genuine warmth through my body.  He asked if we were alright and if we’d make it home okay.  My heart flipped as my dad replied with a “Nah, we’ll be fine, thanks”.  With a quick wave both windows were up and the moment was over as quickly as it had started.  The van pulled away.  My Dad backed up and with a bit more spinning and effort we made the turn.  Even though we left that intersection, that moment has not left my mind.  That man could have pulled away not caring at all about us, but he took the time to stop, and ask.  I don’t know that man and I probably never will.  I don’t know if he lives a hectic life, if he has a wife, if he has kids, if he lives alone.  None of that mattered, he showed genuine kindness to complete strangers and I still feel warm inside from that stranger who took time out of his life to be concerned about ours.  

When Everlasting Ends

Author's Note:  I changed my mind, this poem would be a far better piece to use for an assignment concerning word choice and figurative language. Because, well, let's be honest my last poem ("The Power of Observation") is not my best work.  I absolutely love figurative language, but not in a goofy way.  I want you to feel this piece, I want you to picture it in your mind, and most of all I want you to leave with some sort of emotion brought out of you.  I want my pieces to provoke emotions that you avoid because facing your fears is just part of life.  I'm not going to go and try to explain this poem because I don't want to explain it, and I don't want you to try and "figure it out"  I just want you to read it and feel it. 

everlasting
they say it lasts forever
everlasting love
everlasting happiness
everlasting hope
what happens when
everlasting comes to an end?

everlasting love ends in
divorce
break-ups
loss

everlasting happiness ends in
sadness
grief
remorse

everlasting hope ends in
despair
emptiness
failure

when everlasting ends
there is nothing to love
nothing to be happy about
nothing to hope for

life becomes hollow
and meaningless
there’s a void
that can never be filled

everlasting does not always
last forever
some count the days
until it ends
others hide from the end
and try to make time stand still

I just live life
the way I want to be remembered
for when everlasting comes to an end
there are still memories
that surface
from time to time

instead of focsing
on the end
focus on the things between

life is a painting
each brushstroke
gets you closer and closer
to the finished product
but
it’s not about the finished product  
it’s about each single brush stroke
that defines what your painting
is all about

when everlasting comes to an end
how would you want to be remembered?