In the morning
I bend my listening ear,
And I'll hear the voice of God
Coming near, coming near.
I'll hear His precious call,
And I'll set my every move
To follow the Lord through all.

I know He loves me,
I know He cares,
I know He hears my needs,
Listens to every prayer.
I'll follow in His footsteps;
Follow where He goes,
He knows my every motive,
My joys and my woes.

Patience in the heart of man
Loads of love, no demand.
Waiting silent, waiting still,
Teardrops on the windowsill.
Years of love, years of hate,
Only sinners congregate.
Time to use and time to waste,
Take a breath, slow down your pace.
A priceless virtue: attain it if you can,
Peace and patient waiting in the heart of man.

If ever a dream I've dreamed,
I dream here all alone.
I dream of things revealed,
Of happy hearth and home.

I make up castles in the air
Filled with voices that I love,
Feet pittering here and there,
Always stay, never rove.

Why are my dreems so sweet?
A hazy image with no face,
Children I may never meet,
Little house, cozy place!

If I wed my dreams will be reality,
No matter what face or home,
No matter what I see.
Oh! If it will ever come!

Freedom is like a tree that has been growing on the street-corner ever since I can remember. It was tall and green when we moved in, but it gradually had more and more dead branches. Nobody noticed that it was dying until one day when it fell over.
Our freedom has been gradually taken away from us, but nobody has noticed because the government has been taking away one little seemingly unimportant right at a time, and nobody will notice how restricted we are until we are all in chains.

Wake up, America!

I hate Amerika, but I love America.

Always reforming, never done;
To be like Jesus, the Holy One.
Pray without ceasing,
Answers increasing,
Grace all-surrounding,
His love all around me.
Peace He will impart,
He's loved us from the start.

Hypochondria

The morning air was more brisk than normal. Today it chilled me to the bone; it had no regard for how many layers I had put on in an attempt to warm myself. Although, it didn’t really matter. I was close to my destination and my trek was near its end. I brought the opening of my fur coat close to me and took another twenty strides through the deep snow. I tightened my helmet’s neck strap as I finally reached the castle’s stretching shadow. The door had been broken into. Its lock had been destroyed by blunt force, leaving the hinges clinging limply.

I. Bad, Bad, Bad
No, no, no, no
Not going down this road
Again
Friends are friends
It doesn’t matter
If they’re boys or girls.

II. What
Why is this jealousy
We’re not—
I’ve never even thought of you like—
Block my thoughts, don’t let them go
Any farther than they already have
“But seriously, she’s too old for you
She doesn’t even speak English,”
Laugh it off
But wow, I really don’t want you to
See this woman ever again.

The End
It slowly crawls upon me, 
Like the tide coming in, 
Sorrow envelopes my heart,
As tears start to spring to my eyes, 
The end has come and it's over, 
Friendship lingering in the far distance. 
Things we have said cannot be unsaid, 
And shouldn't be by any means. 
The wave of loneliness will pass, 
The heart ache and fake smiles disappear, 
My heart will mend, 
Probably faster than fair, 
And I'll find someone new,
After I've fallen in love with myself again. 

In Which I Contemplate Teenagehood

On Thursday morning, I sat beside Mom on a couch and felt an uneasiness take up in my stomach: the thinly veiled distaste, the undercurrent of deception, the absolute notion that something was just off took precedence in the room. Maybe they didn’t see it; I don’t know. Their pettiness made me angry.

We resign.

That afternoon, I had to turn away and speed toward my cherry-vanilla coke when we told them we were leaving.