From the Heart

Sitting on the pier Soaking in the sun In the Swedish spring My time here is almost over So I'm relishing every last minute Goodbyes are hard but better than Not getting the chance to say them at all Snow once covered the pond But now the reflections of buildings Take over the water Only broken by rippling waves I wish I could stay longer But my time here Much like winter Is coming to an end Fare thee well

I long for yesterday's innocence As if it could save the human race From its self-destruction A world caught up in Fashion trends and fake news headlines As if the real issues in our world Take a back seat To blind consumerism Nothing can heal our scars Nor prevent the eventual collapse of our Self-constructed empires Then I look to the sky and wonder What does it all mean? Our own insignificance Drowned out by Likes and Instagram followers Was it ever worth it?

Where there was White snow and harsh winds There is now Newly grown forage and gray gravel It's still a reprise from the Demands of the world Only a short distance away Those demands still occupy my mind But now only the forest Occupies my eyes and Puts my mind at ease If only for a short while It's calm here Quiet and still The birds are my companions for now Maybe I am not their's But they are mine My body is still beneath the pines While my mind wanders the world A reprise nonetheless Here I am nobody Merely an observer passing through I'll forge through the forage To meet those demands again It's still a reprise

It really could be from a storybook This treasure tucked away From the city But itself part of the city Life is relaxing here Nowhere to rush off to No schedules to keep up with Only the natural landscape But surely it can't be natural There are paths, bikes, bridges, Hot dog stands, restaurants It's sculpted by the creator's Conception of nature We are dominant of our landscapes Always have been and Always will be

Everything is green again Renewed with life and vibrancy Winter's long, cold grasp Is but a distant memory Now the sun shines here for twenty hours a day There's a new energy In the wildlife and the people Living here The four hours of daylight only a few months ago Was well worth these precious moments of seemingly Everlasting light

There is a beauty To the bare winter It's not just the way The snow sticks to the trees Or the way it gently falls to the ground Everything is stripped to its core And left to bear the elements Of the winter winds Only to find a renewed awakening When spring comes Our lives are like the seasons Constantly changing and Adapting to our surroundings We are all in the midst of a winter Exposed to the elements and Stripped to our core Waiting for the arrival of our new spring

Subway wrappers Club crackers Future doctors and lawyers and Lifetime slackers Who are we all Faces and places in time People in the presence Of themselves and so many others Headphones Laptops Screens Everything to bring us together Yet drive us worlds apart The bittersweet taste of success A high GPA but who to impress A job A bank account All of these material possessions We use each other's Weaknesses as weapons And for what To have the Gravestone that says I WAS SUCCESSFUL All they left was An emotionless lust For possessions that They couldn’t take with them To their casket

Here I am Talking to the walls again The sounds reverberating back to my ear Only to disappear when they reach me We all want someone to hear us Someone to care about what we say So in the end we know We were worth something Whether the words are worthless Or more powerful than you could ever imagine You’ll never know if only The walls hear them Break down the wall And shout at the top of the mountain Until they know who you are And let them know your words are worth something

I stood over the cliff and gazed at the depths below me My heart skipped a few beats And my palms were sweaty I was afraid of the fall but I knew I would jump right into your arms and everything would be okay It would be the tranquil love I'd been looking for all along The fall is the hardest part because of the uncertainty Time has shown me both joy and sorrow My experiences eroded me into who I am and sometimes that terrifies me I know now that I can fall I know now that I can show my scars And my heart black and blue from bruises and heartbreak sings songs of escalating joy I can move past my pain and glare into your eyes and let everything melt away When I'm wrapped in your arms it feels like the world stops spinning Every preconceived notion of love I had before went out the window I guess I was afraid I would never find Someone who knew what it was like to hide behind a smile and pretend that everything was always fine Then you came along and I jumped off the cliff

Alone again with my thoughts in the woods The gold-leafed silence measured in ounces of reflection The only sounds piercing my ears are the winds whistling through the pines and the birds whistling atop them I'm surrounded by serenity a peaceful reprise from my quiries I shed my worries like the trees shed their needles and leave the both behind when I part

The rippled water conceals What lies beneath the surface I too have gotten good at that The small shock waves Give me both hope and despair For tomorrow who knows what will happen As the sun creeps over the treeline And another day comes to an end I reflect just like the water Perhaps there's a hidden meaning beneath it all But then again Who knows what lies beneath the surface

Our lives are like bicycle wheels on ice At times we are certain of our paths Sure of our destination But other times we lose traction And slip from our ending Those are the times we feel uncertain We feel that everything is Out of our control For that daunting moment We feel uncertainty We feel that our paths are undetermined Merely fragments of thought slipping on ice When we gain control again Our inspiration takes hold Though our paths may not be the same They were always predetermined Even if at times they were uncontrolled The wheels gain control again Sure of their path As if all along they were reaching a known end

My stomach swirls When I see the storm's surge Though I'm a world away I know someday this will affect us all We need each other now more than ever But we are worlds apart Only when the rich suffer Will the problem become a priority When the shifting sands of time Erode our mountains of self-gain Will we realize the carnage awaiting us

You show me warmth You show me grace You show me compassion When I think I don't deserve it You give light to my darkness Spark to my fire And all along Here I was Muddling in my thoughts About what was and What could be and What will be I'll never know why you stayed But I'm sure glad you did

The sun breaks away from the clouds again And its rays ripple down to illuminate Everything below The snow sparkles with a soft gleam As the wind brushes up against my face. The crunch of the snow underneath my feet Reminds me I’m grounded. It’s hard to remember that sometimes when your Head tends to be in the clouds. It’s warm today, But not outside. It’s warm today Because I know I’m okay. I close my eyes and listen to the Melodies of the sweet songbirds. I open my eyes Only to realize That everything is okay And I think to myself It’s warm today.

Bask in today's sunshine, For tomorrow's perils are unknown. Light gives way to darkness Only if you let it. The morning reprise greets you With a comforting solitude Much like the moon's Gleaming silver. Sit still, let it all Take control of you, If only for a moment. Let it accentuate Your worst fears and your greatest expectations. The cold arms of tomorrow Wait for you, Open with a devious welcome. Go to nowhere again and Bask in today’s sunshine

Fallen tress make the best seats Even though they're deceased or diseased They have the ability to please and appease The weariness of our minds For it is when we Find oursevles in solitude That we realize who we are The things we desrie The people we love and cherish The emotions that have come and gone Everything falls short of the fallen tree Even though it's so close to the ground It leaves its mark as the leaves leave the bark And that may not seem like much But to the tree This is everything that once was and Everything that will be And as the sun pierces through the branches Like clouds pierced with bullets, It shines on the life That was and is Everything

The orange hue reflecting on the water Seemed to put my mind at ease The sky was ablaze An orange dye with a hint of crimson A pinkish red dancing with its partners Dangling over the horizon line And finally a light lavender folded into a Layered mosaic of distinguished awe There were people sitting on the dock Looking at the same thing I was What were they thinking Did they want their minds to go blank too Would the water's reflection hide their greatest fears While coddling their greatest hopes The ducks swimming in circles don't have to worry About the same things as us Am I going to have enough to buy my textbooks? What does my mom think of my boyfriend? Am I going to get that job? Ah dammit, that test is tomorrow... Maybe climate change has already pushed us off of a cliff... But I think both the ducks and The people sitting on the dock Feel that too Their worlds are slowly changing Just like mine Then again, Maybe their thoughts melt away While they watch the sunset too