We aren't supposed to be together.

Yet we're holding hands. And I smile.

I'm safe.

The rigid softness of his chest

Cradling her head

One arm a secure embrace

The other lovingly stroking

The hair of this stranger

Her tears soaked his shirt

A gentle shhhhh, overlapping her sobs

His strength, her comfort

Fast forward

Two months

Her soft embrace

Chest cradling his head

Arms security blankets to him

Releasing his burden of unnecessary strength

Tears drenching her dress

Her hushed voice calming

It's okay, it's okay.

Barring his soul

Sharing himself

He is tough.

Man.

Is it so wrong

To wish for a life of freedom,

Of happiness undisturbed?

Really, there is only one

Thing I truly want

To live without nagging fear,

To exist without crushing anxiety

Even if only for a day,

I want to live with nothing

But sheer happiness,

Exuberant joy

I don't need anything else

This is all I ask for,

Just a simple request

It's not too much, right?

So why hasn't my only wish

Been granted yet?

Want

what is

out of reach.

Despise

what is in

my grasp.

Look!

the other

side

of

the fence,

where

greener

is

the grass.

Upon reaching

the other

side,

dismayed,

I realize

that the grass,

although,

lush and green

just wasn’t

as green

as it

seemed.

Despise

what is in

my grasp;

Want

what is

out of reach.

Stop the cycle

of want

and greed —

be content

where

I meet

all my

needs.

It’s a freedom in a world bound in iron chains

Bountiful harvest growing amidst great pains

I’ll paint a world greater than my dreary own

Filled with vibrant characters full and grown

I can inform or entertain in whatever way

So I hope I can brighten someone’s day

Let my words be a source of joy and praise

Let them inspire and set restless minds ablaze.

Accountability:

Actions are predictable. Consequences are not. You cannot have one without the other.

Truthfullness:

Truth knows allegiance to the honest. A lie knows loyalty to no man.

Responsibility:

Choose your duties wisely. Those for whom you are responsible build the frame of your life.

Honor:

Betray neither yourself nor your fellow men. In so doing, ensure that you are never truly alone.

Love:

If you do not believe love to be worth fighting for, you have yet to experience love.

Patience:

Do not act in fear of time. Willingness to wait shows the value of the prize.

Respect:

Take heed of the wisdom of others. Foster a world where other men may take heed of yours.

Responsibility:

Choose your duties wisely. Those for whom you are responsible build the frame of your life.

Why and I,

two simple words.

One asks the question,

the other about the self.

For years I would ask why,

why am I here,

what purpose do I have?

Will I do good things?

Be someone?

Will I be alone and lonely?

Will I be hated?

Why do we think these things?

Why not something more cheerful,

less restricting to one's heart and soul?

Even now,

I ask the same questions,

to air, to space,

never getting a response;

so what's the point?

Suddenly it dawned on me,

for the answer is with me,

has been from the beginning.

Why am I here?

Because it was meant to be that way.

Whatever trivial pursuits,

whatever dogged trials I live through,

whatever successes I encounter,

through all the hoops and twists;

it was meant to be that way.

And why is my acronym for:

"what happened yesterday"

is my every day reply to history,

for yesterday is gone,

and I cannot live life based on the past.

Then there is today,

where I start again.

Not to find answers,

but to live with what I know,

and one day die, taking all that with me.