Exposure is something I am comfortable with.

A nice, light level that allows me to adjust and adapt.

Something I can grow accustomed to, and learn to live with.

But lately the exposure has exceeded my comfort level.

It goes beyond my youth, beyond my former innocence.

Everything I had left to see has now been seen

Like a bucket list of grievances I had not wanted to unpack.

So now what curiosity is left in me?

I have seen the darkness and sadness that I always hesitantly craved.

And now I am left to live with it.

Should I celebrate the exposure?

Or grieve with the despair?

So many people dead, hurt, desperate, longing for answers.

And me

Taking it all in, bearing witness to their worst days.

It takes adrenaline, it takes passion, it takes the life out of me

To save the lives of others.

Is this how I come to accept this?

Is this acceptance?

It is a difficult task to keep your mind at ease

When the world is speeding around you.

How does one take the time to concentrate

When it seems as if there is not a second to spare?

Anxiety is heightened and emotions are sporadic.

Demands are being dished out one after the other.

And the expectation is a fully-functioning system.

How do I even gain composure?

I’m a mental disaster and all I can see

Is a blur of what’s going on around me.

I don’t remember what I started

Or what I’ve been asked to complete.

Someone just called my name

But I can’t locate where the sound came from.

My humanity feels like it’s been shredded

And thrown into a hurricane

And politely handed back to me.

What do I do with this thing?

I’ve lost myself in the rush.

Look at the way her hair flows

Like a sunflower in the wind.

I can almost see the clouds in her eyes

As I’m looking toward the sky.

I’m amazed at her radiant smile

And I feel the sun on my skin.

“Life imitates art,” she said,

And I fell witness to the blossoming of her soul.

You cannot control what you cannot see.

Just let it be.

The past is gone

And the future is to be.

Just focus on reality

And let it be.

If ever you feel lost beneath the stars

Then come to me.

Here for you always

And yours ’till the end

I guarantee.

Peering deep into the ocean

Was like looking into a mirror.

He saw a wide-eyed boy staring back at him

Without fear of the future.

He was adventurous, daring, and proud.

He dreamed of being someone important one day,

Someone people would look up to and be inspired by.

After turning into a respectable man,

He would peer back into the ocean

And see the person he’d become,

Except he would not be alone.

He would be joined by his family,

His greatest accomplishment.

And this time,

He will be satisfied with the present

But fearful of what’s to come.

We all fall down

One way or another

We accept the challenge of life

The day we choose to breathe,

And we are the subjects of this life

Until the day that life is torn from our beings

Our humanity is all we have to embrace

It keeps us alive until we decide that it doesn’t

And on that day

We again unite,

Not in humanity,

But in the ashes left behind.

The darkness of the sky shattered one day

Due to the power of the sun.

The brightness of the sky shattered one night

Due to the power of the moon.

But the miracle was the in-between.

Some gave their last breaths,

While others took their first.

Some suffered cruel injustices,

While others watched behind the glass.

Events occurred that were beyond their control

And yet they remained victims of the abuse.

They prayed,

Sang,

Chanted,

Cried,

And fell silent when ordered to.

They watched the sun rise and fall day and day again

Until one day they took part in that rising.

Give me a taste of your bitterness;

I know there is more beneath the blade.

Open up to the world around you;

You do not have to live in shame.

Your persona reeks of black coffee

With no cream or sugar in sight.

Reveal your true self

With no fears and no doubts

And the sweetener itself will arise.

I remember her.

She floated by each passing day,

With an aura of peace and joy.

Her eyes were golden drops of honey

Even when the sun did not touch them.

She was a daunting creature

Filled with only beauty and kindness.

She shared her light with the world around her.

Until one day she didn’t.

Some say she died.

But most say that they witnessed her

Fall through the hole and into the sky

Like an angel in disguise.

The wall was not enough to hide his fears.

He wanted to conceal himself in plain sight.

In a city rustling with rage and excitement,

He sunk deep beneath the chatter.

Though no one dared speak his name,

Everyone knew of the shadow behind the glass.

His outline was broadcasted in the middle of the chaos,

Yet all he heard was silence.