120)

For all it’s worth,
I have always wanted to be
something colorful –
you know?
I have always wanted to be
someone beautiful
but not deceiving
or deceptive to the eye
whereas,
I have always wanted to be good,
or someone to know,
as in,
I have always wanted to be
someone to be proud of
or someone to love
or, if I may,
I have always wanted to be
good
or just better . . .

115)

I think of the words I once wrote
to someone who shared their words
with me.
I think about the bravery
it takes
to show someone
your truth
and to hold yourself
out there
above the fires
and say, yeah
this is me.

110)

I see them differently, and perhaps
this is what makes a difference
when we speak.
Either way,
I do not look up nor down,
nor am I better,
or worse.

I am only me,
a man, a searcher,
a traveler, and a person,
and so,
I am as imperfect as anyone else,
yet, I am hired to speak
or to somehow inspire or motivate
a classroom of mental health hopefuls
and help them see their journey
from a new
or different perspective.

102)

Nothing is what it used to be,
then again
maybe nothing is supposed to be
what it used to be
because nothing would be
what it’s supposed to be now,
if it was
and, so,
maybe now is just a time
or a moment of awareness, as in
today is just like another session
in the school
which we call life.

97)

I love early morning drives.
I love them just before
the sunrise,
and I love how
the sun comes up from the east
which is just behind me
and I can see the sunrise mirrored
on the reflecting windows
on the eastern facades of the buildings
on the other side
of the 59^th Street Bridge.

94)

I believe in the benefit
of what I call
an honest assessment
so that at the end of the day
I can come to a constructive conclusion
like it
or not . . .

In fairness,
I am not sure about
the exceptions to the rule
nor am I sure about
the fool who claims to be king.

91)

And we go back
to where the bullets hit the sky
and back to where the violence comes
from the sum of our ignorance,
multiplied by fear
and subtracting us
from the one thing
that means the most to us.
We go back too far
and we go back to before the things we bargained for
had worth
or made sense.

85)

Do you remember the innocence
of looking upwards at the sky?
Picture this –
just around the Fourth of July
and looking up
to watch the sky bloom
with rockets full of color
and the explosions of sparks
and streams, and the aahs
the ooohs,
and the mesmerizing
moment when it’s okay
to be amazed
by purity.

I remember . . .