How to make someone believe that their life is worth living

How can I help you understand
The beauty that I see
When I look at you?

What can I do
To make you realize
That your spirit radiates a child-like energy that simply cannot be replaced?

What can I give you
To make you feel as loved as you actually are
Even if you don't always feel it?

How am I supposed to tell you
That the pain that you feel is so valid
But it doesn't make you as weak as you feel, and that you are strong?

What can I do but listen?
To the horrors of your past
And do my best to assist you in finding a better environment for your future?

Who must I introduce you to
In order for you to truly comprehend
That this boy who says he loves you really doesn't?

How do I persuade you
To take the necessary and incredibly difficult steps
To free yourself of this crippling addiction?

What do I say
To convince you that there are so many people
That would be devastated and broken if you were gone?

What will make you see
That there is so much promise in your future
And that your current mistakes will not stop you from achieving?

How can I approach you
When the words you use to express your feelings about life
Make me feel like you have already given up?

How am I supposed to try to make you believe
That your life
Is worth living?

There could be something more than this

A hamster wheel
That's how some of the world sees America
And I can feel it
While I'm in it

I'm happy with my life and my productivity
But am I only happy, because this is all that I know?
Could there be
Something more than this?

From what I understand,
I'm doing everything right.
Going to school, making money, contributing to society,
But is this the only kind of right?

When I am told,
That maybe, just maybe,
I was born in the wrong place
I wonder what the world could hold for me

All this time
I have held such gratitude
For the fact that I was born
Into this land of "opportunity'

But I'm now realizing
That this opportunity that I have been presented
Is not just my opportunity
It is opportunity that is benefiting someone who only wants to benefit himself

The opportunity
Is the opportunity to always spend my life
Trying to get ahead of someone
Who is benefiting from my trying - it never ends

I want to explore
and I want to know
What could be beyond

1/25/18

We have thousands of little brilliant thoughts that flicker and fleet every second of everyday

There's something about you that makes me want to know
All of yours

Somewhere thousands of feet up...

This time that I'm coming home,
I'm different
in a good way

I love the way you make me look.
My smile is a little brighter,
My back is a little straighter,
My eyes hold more love.
You paint my soul
With your affections and praises.
They are gold.
I glimmer and glisten
With what you've given me.

And although you've already helped me be more beautiful
And better
You continue to pour your love in
You make me bright like star
And push me to do better
Putting me into orbit
Wrapping around you,
But still completing my own journey

All the while you guide me,
Always in my sight

And now here we are
Dancing, intertwined amongst stars

New Beginning

I feel alone but in a good way.
There are still parts of me that want this with you,
But I know on my own feels good
And is just as good too.

December is a feeling

My December has always been runny noses, pink fingers and toes,
Puffy jackets that swish when you move,
Klunky boots and wool socks,
That still can't keep you just warm enough.
December smells like fires and musty basements.
It tastes like apple cider and pierogis from Babcia's Polish deli.
The twinkling of the lights on the tree dance outside in the snow,
All the while the tree enjoys the warmth of the indoors.
There is no feeling like entering a home after braving the frigid outdoors.

In California, December is different.
I can still go to the beach,
Jump in the waves,
Lay in the sun
Watch the surfers,
Glistening and gliding through the green waves.
The wind picks up a little more,
And when the sun goes down
The chill is a little more bitter,
But never a real bite.
There's an element of magic,
Knowing that even though this is natural, the fact that I am here is what makes it possible.
The feeling of California in December is surreal.

It all felt wavy

It all felt wavy,
But I knew it would be ok,
And you said it...
It's because I had you
And you understand.
We can sit in silence and write.
Writers are different than non-
Writers are travelers.
Today, I'm just traveling,
Mind wandering,
My body is the vehicle.

Thank you for making my hands warm.
Everything feels warm now.
Your space is warm.