Hearts

Hearts

One must open their heart
For it to be filled
But an open heart
Is prone to spill

And out pours everything
You let flow in

This is the heart
This is its delicate strength

Artistic Expression

Artistic Expression

We cry out
With words

We cry
The tears flowing down our faces

We cry out

In pride
In joy

In fear
In contempt

We cry so very much

Leaving broken hearts
And puddles of tears
As we leap back and forth
Across the spectrum

At at times
We don't leap

We walk
We crawl

We beg others to drag us

But we keep moving
Growing
Learning from the struggle

Some of us cry upon the canvas
With rhythmic rivers of red
And cold blossoms blue

Some of us cry out the notes
That will save
The broken rhythm of red heartbeats gone cold

Some of us cry into the inkwell
And with dipped pen
We put our heartbeat rivers and blossoms to the page

The spectrum is

An amalgam mosaic
A contradictory chorus
A paradoxical prose

In all forms that it can be

The spectrum is to be

Expressed

Remembered

Remembered

Hold on,

By the grip of your fingertips.

Remember,

I'm easy to forget.

No impression made

Reason left without

Without substance

Without heart

Should I slip

From your memory's

Fingertip grasp

It will be subtle

Too subtle to notice

Just how sudden

Transparency

Transparency

Transparency is freeing
They say
Who's "They"
And what do they know?

Is their freedom in fear?
Is their freedom in betrayal?
Is their freedom in broken hope?

Is their freedom, really
In being so exposed?

Is their freedom in bleeding exposure?
Is their freedom in public tears?
Is their freedom in posted pain?

Is their freedom, really
In connecting through transparency?

I feel more caged than ever
Wincing away from mistakes
That have grown too big
Too damning
Too harming

Too permanent

So, freedom in transparency?
Yeah, maybe, but only if
I welcome the reality
Because it's going to hurt

It's going to hurt
And people will know I'm hurting,
That I failed so completely
I actually went and made things worse

For others

This is the gift of transparency
Truly, the gift of its freedom
As my own guilt
Puts me in a cage

So then I cry out
Oh, woe is me
And people will hear me
Through the transparency

But I did the damage
I am owed no pity
Deserve no state of woe

And people will know
They know
Because I let them

Welcome to freedom

Bring Down the Walls

Bring Down the Walls

If you wouldn't put up these walls
I wouldn't feel imprisoned

But you smile
Without being happy
You laugh
Knowing no true joy
You cry
Without a soul coursing

Through your veins

Veins that course
Through both mind
And heart
Veins that course
Through every last square inch

Your heart pumps inhibitions
Straight into your brain
Building lies made apparently true
By the forced repression of adulthood and success

With time
Walls are built
Doubt placed at the impossible top
So far away
You could never reach it
And bring it
And the walls

Down

But that's where I go
Because feeling is supposedly weakness
And you are supposedly strong

Live within your walls

I will love my freedom

Heroes of Mine, True Inspirations

Heroes of Mine, True Inspirations

Start Strong!
Stay Strong!
Finish Strong!

It starts with step zero
The step you have to take
Before you even step into the gym

Faith

Faith in yourself
Faith in your teammates and coaches
Faith in this family

It continues with step one
The ball is tossed into the air
And you send it flying at the opponent

Should they manage
To return your serve
They best prepare for your 3! 4! 5!

You've already taken care of step two
You're in position
Ready to smash

Step three
Bump!
Step four
Set!
Step five
Spike!

Zero to five
In the span of a single point's time
Together, it gets done

Again
And again
And again

Together we are!
Together we are!
Together!
We!
Are!

Lady Warriors!!!

Fear

Fear

The fear can
And will
Beat you at times

You, in turn,
Will learn
From both victory and defeat

With what you learn
You will then be armed
Against the known foe

The foe may change
In form and time
But it's the same foe you've known

It will be the same foe you've known
Since the very first time
You felt it clutch at your courage

It will be

It will be
That doubt
A fear so true

It disguises itself
As inevitable failure
But there is a greater truth

Truly, I assure you
That beneath, behind, hidden
By the mask

The mask conceals
The fear you have
That you just might succeed

For only in you, yours, yourself
Can you find genuine success
Amongst the confusing paradox

Fear prevents
And fear enables
The truest contradiction

So, I guess
You'll just have to
Remedy the paradox

I'd be happy to tell you
What it is
And how to use it

This remedy

Balance