Taking Chances Will Give the Ultimate Awards

"Taking one's chances is like taking a bath, because sometimes you end up feeling comfortable and warm, and sometimes there is something terrible lurking around that you cannot see until it is too late and you can do nothing else but scream and cling to a plastic duck." -Lemony Snicket

There is a quiet little kingdom all bright and yellow where the Queen was awarded her crown not because of name, but because of honor and perseverance. She could save the world and bring a smile to every one's face. With the raise of her hand, the crowd cheers.

The crown rests heavily on her head, yet she wears it proudly. A delightful reign, and the eve just passed. Bliss (and glitter) abounds, so let out a shout! Let your joy pierce the sky as a thousand rubber ducks fall to the ground in celebration because she's wearing a crown and she's the best there will ever be!

What can I say? I'm proud of you Bay!

Love, Your Sister

The Mailbox on the Corner

"And by the way, Monsieur Marius, I believe that I was a little bit in love with you." -Victor Hugo

She stood on the muggy corner

Of that All-American town

Swarming with foreign accents and tourists

But she didn't notice any of that

She was staring down the mailbox

Cold, blue metal with the words

U.S. MAIL

Running across the bottom

The bottom of her skirt fluttered

in the sticky wind

And Her fingers fluttered nervously

Clutching the white letter

She chewed on the once perfected nails

long since destroyed and forgotten

The wind tangled her fading curls

Her hand seemed suspended over that metal box

Not quite ready to let go

Dreamer, dying

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."- Martin Luther King Jr.

She wanted to be

But gave up that Dream

For reasons you'll never see

Juliet is Falling, Flying, Leaving

"Take lots of pictures. Not of sights. Don't take pictures of buildings. Take pictures of moments."- Shawn Spencer (James Roday)

The Final Goodbye

He lost it all

Realization falls on his face

and rests in his hazel eyes

as he stares at the Girl.

'I Love You' had been on his lips a thousand times

But nothing so sweet

as when she broke down

and caved.

The wall to her heart open and flooding

But the kiss still hurt.

Too much for just once.

It was still a goodbye

But his mind was made up

...just a little too late.

her head in the clouds jetting off with him.

He couldn't just let her go.

He wouldn't believe in that.

For Leah: Into the Present

"Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and the longitudes." -Henry David Thoreau

The hum of life passes around him

But he's stuck in the past

Lost in the sea of old faces

And even older places

refusing to let go

of the joy he felt there

At "way back when"

His vision is clouded

with these wild memories

of craziness and happiness and neon

His ears ringing with the sway of palm trees

And the laughter of old friends by a camp fire.

But life goes on

In it's monotone dance

Pulling him forward

Into the present

Clutching the sweetness

of the past

to his fast beating chest

A Short Memory of History Ten Years in the Making

"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserver your Freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it."- John Adams

The different ways in which we express our freedom: the American Flag wrapped around her like a beach towel, a comforting hug. Others wear it as their armour, their lifeline. Still others wear it as the burning memory upon their chest of the thousands who died on this very day ten years ago.

I was old enough to remember, but young enough not to fully understand the hysteria the country around me felt. I remember getting dropped off in front of my elementary school that morning with the knowledge, or more the sense, the sense that something was terribly, terribly wrong. But I looked up at the bright blue sky and rushed inside anyway. A little scared. I think I was a little scared. I had, after all, heard the words my parents were saying while I ate my breakfast.

I remember the day that I awoke to a teary-eyed mother. I immediately panicked. Who died? was what I thought. But as I ate my pancakes (or some other breakfast item) sitting in the same chair I had been ten years earlier, my mother informed me that the CIA had found Osama Bin Laden and that the Navy SEALs had killed him. We ran into the living room to watch the story be confirmed on the news. I shouted for joy. Yes! I jumped around a little. HISTORY! I screamed. I was very excited about that part.

This is a day that always hits the heartstrings for me. It always seems so real. Like it wasn't ten years ago, but twelve hours ago.

I'd like to say thank you to all of the firemen who were at the Twin Towers, that day. And especially to those who lost their lives. I salute you! God Bless America!

She Dances Boldly

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal." -C.S. Lewis

She dances boldly

moving to the beat of her heart

now warmed by a cold-blooded soulless being

She can't see what the world has discovered in him

And so she dances boldly

They try to warn her heart

But she is too far away to hear

the Warning, and the Words

And so she dances boldly

She doesn't see the way he'll wring her heart once again

He wouldn't hurt her twice, she's convinced

The world is watching, waiting

And so she dances boldly

Before her heart breaks

The boy who wishes she'd smile at him instead

Calls her out

Frozen in her boldness