please tell me
that you do not know
why we haven’t talked
in what feels like a lifetime 
you avoid me 
like a 
plague
you have infected 
my heart
and have left my paralyzed 
and destitute
waiting to die
your silence fills me with
more
dread
than anything you could
possibly 
say

people.

this square is full of people.

we are bundled up, you and i

the frosty air that leaves our lungs

mingles about, ascending to the heavens.

exhilaration. excitement. joy.

just being around you is joy.

together. our hands are together, intertwined.

the world swirls

roundabout.

shall we stroll?

grip me tightly,

i don’t want to lose you in the crowd.

i don’t want to lose you.

ever.

is the ultimate damnation

of the human race

we can convince

ourselves and our friends

that the evil we wish to commit

is socially acceptable

with a distinct

understanding

that it

ain’t

and that we are

fooling ourselves

and

revelations

perhaps

are saving us

from our naturally occurring ignorance

transformations may be rigorous

but they are

representative of our gift

the human gift

world

what are the visions with which you are

graced?

i know those words

that gandhi said

i just don’t know what i wish to see

the vision is fogged by everyday trials

and

tribulations

that are potent poison to the

human creativity

recycle that pain

into something beautiful

that’s what i see

beauty

My parents are no-nonsense straight shooting people who know enough to know what they don’t know, and not to try to fix what ain’t broken. Recently they’ve adopted a mantra of saying “Well…” (emphasis does falls one the well) “There you go”, and leaving it at that. It’s a one-size-fits-all solution to all of life’s problems. It’s a product well designed to handle all manner of emergencies from upset children to recently deceased extended family members. Now, in the same sort of round about way I ended the last paragraph, I have to tell you a little bit more about them specifically before I get on with the story.

My father is quite honestly the most giving person you will ever meet. Unfortunately, I’m not the first person to realize that and (up until recently) he has been a open target for evil ahem relatives to take advantage of. That, of course is another story and as my mother often reminds me “Don’t use your language arts writing to air the family laundry” (you can add the patronizing tone yourself). It’s not that he is foolish or dimwitted, and this is coming from his teenage son, in fact quite the opposite; he is a brilliant mind with a big heart.

My mother is the most extroverted person you will ever meet, and lord knows it has rubbed off on me. She’s always filled with news and communicates constantly. Her language falls somewhere between American Sign Language, American Email… Language, American really-fast-cursive Language and good old American English. That’s not to say she actually speaks ASL, well, let me put it this way: if you tied my mom’s hands together she would be completely mute. She is loving and caring and well versed in the ways of life.

Me? Oh, I’m just a regular teenager I guess. I live and breath art. It’s my distinct understanding that you have done something correctly until you’ve somehow tainted it with your own creativity. I always have some random project going: it drives my parents crazy! I suppose that’s enough about me, I’d like to get onto my theory, I feel I’ve truly hit on something with it.

Lets talk about the first part. “people are beautiful”, it seems to me that everyone spends so much time worrying about the way they look, and even more-so how other people look, that the forget how elegant and amazing people are. I’ve used a lot of general terms so I think I should clarify. Humans have been blessed with curious capabilities unlike anything else on Earth. We can communicate (extremely effectively – most of the time), create and experience emotions other species cannot. We are elegantly designed. I think that if people thought of themselves the way I see people they would carry themselves more elegantly. Being sure of yourself could change your life.

And that second bit? What I mean there is that worrying can be more painful than the worst-case-scenario. Trying to hold onto things that are meant to be moving can only result in you being pulled along. Generally its not your correct path and you’ll wish you hadn’t tried. Often, I have to remind myself how amazing life is. Just the everyday experiences: they’re gifts. And the pain? What can you use to measure the fantastic when everything is the flat and plain (no matter how ‘amazing’ it is)? For all our human elegance we sure spend a lot of time complaining. Yes, humans are flawed… but they don’t have to be. It’s the shadow that make the light striking. Once I understood that life redeemed itself.

The best way to describe it is using photography. I look at film photographers and think “they’ve got it down…” They use film instead of digital to escape the clean, black and white morality world we live in. The grain is beautiful and if you ask me, is a ­more honest representation of what that moment was really like. Flipping through photo books shot with expired film and retro cameras can open your eyes to the beauty in everything. What kind of photographer are you?

walk

made easier by the

comforting voice

of a

dear

friend

or a new

acquaintance

the path of life

suddenly dark

because silence

consumes

all

http://www.amazon.com/Conch-Bearer-Chitra-Banerjee-Divakaruni/dp/0761319352

a tiny spirit of the ocean

it seeks to realign

http://www.amazon.com/Conch-Bearer-Brotherhood/dp/0689872429/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297874990&sr=8-1