DISCLAIMER: Contains mature thematic content (i.e. mentions drunk driving, one strong word edited with asterisks)

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty." - Ode on a Grecian Urn

Many have sought her, to praise or to own,
Many to her have sung or scribed,
But none can define beauty.

She runs as effortlessly as the streams of water
That trip and play over the earth,
Reflecting the verdure of idyllic scenery
And adding her own whimsical touch.
She sashays with the wind to create vibrancy
And sprinkles even more color on the palette.

DISCLAIMER: Mild language, edited out with asterisks :).

Monday.
At 1:15am the moon will rise over a greenish Uranus, I don’t know what to say to him, I say I’m in love but yet I hate these awkward pauses, football football farmer’s almanac, maybe I’m not as desperate as I thought, yes he is attractive and wonderful, but this is sort of liberating, we’re just friends I am declaring it as true.

"We're fools whether we dance or not,
so we might as well dance."
-Japanese Proverb

o~O~o

Make me stop smiling.
I dare you, for it is impossible.
Squash my dreams?
Inconceivable as they are to your small minds,
you are incapable.

I feel joy:
I dance, unashamed.

Experience sorrow:
I weep, unabashed.

Your small-mindedness will never move me.
I am unfazed by blind hatred.

1. First Dates
I’ll never forget the first time he ran his hand through my hair. I was engulfed in the way he looked at me: like I was a treasure, like I meant something. I’ll remember the chilly autumn air and the shudder in my bones when his chapped lips met mine. I’ll remember how embarrassed I was when I pulled away from him in surprise. “Nonono, I didn’t mean to, do it again!” I recall crying, shoving my hands in my pockets. I remember how he laughed at me and after a period of begging, he kissed me again with his chapped lips and I didn’t pull away.

Might as well have stuffed explosives down my throat 
They've found a way to blow up my heart
An elephant is sleeping on my chest and it won't listen to me, it won't get
off
The scent of the end has wafted in through my window
We are going to decay
Like a dead mouse hidden by undergrowth
Hold on tight, it's almost over.

"I awoke only to find that the rest of the world is still asleep."
-Leonardo da Vinci

Can you see the colors?
They’re shining through the window,
accompanying the silver starlight.

It’s one of the greatest wonders!
Do they really not show?
But I can see them all right.

Come dance in the wind
with pale green and turquoise
flowing through its eddies.

It’s practically a sin
to ignore the murmuring voice
You don’t hear it? You must be pretending!

1. Snapshots
I sometimes wish I could catch
those special moments with a camera
plant them in my mind and never stop seeing them
replay them over and over in my head
you are beautiful
when you look at me that way
my heart does things that a human heart shouldn’t
have the ability to do while I’m still breathing
like stop for a few breaths
then let it go again
please just let me
love you like you know I can

1. Freckles
you have a lot of freckles
i had never been close enough to notice
they all kind of join together
i like them

2. Oops
i thought i was over you
seriously, this time
but she said you were cute
and i wanted to claw her eyes out
oops
here we go again

3. Well Okay
letting go
is harder
than i thought

4. Oh Well
i can miss you
with all my might
but you won’t
miss me back
it’s okay
no big deal
i’ll keep missing you anyway

It started with folding clothes.

My mother enlisted my brothers to help, and after a small lesson on the proper folding of shirts, they were off. We stood around, quietly working, our eyes occasionally flashing to the episode of Supernanny that was playing.

My brother was handed one of my shirts-- an Orange Crush, vintage-y looking thing. He held it up. "Oh my gosh. Look how small this is compared to all our clothes!"

I laughed. "It's an XL. It's not small."

"It's an XL? That's disgusting!"

My mom told him to please keep folding, and he did.