Graduation
Re-set Button (masculine)
he discovered his re-set button early on & there were not many things that bothered him all the rest of his days just because of that
Quiet Pride (No Gender)
There has never been a day when I have not been proud of you, I said, though some days I’m louder about other stuff so it’s easy to miss that.
Quiet Pride (daughter)
There has never been a day when I have not been proud of you, I said to my daughter, though some days I’m louder about other stuff so it’s easy to miss that.
Quiet Pride (son)
There has never been a day when I have not been proud of you, I said to my son, though some days I’m louder about other stuff so it’s easy to miss that.
Psychology
Of course I’m not happy, she said to me, but I’ve got a degree in psychology so at least I can explain why.
One Child
I hope it will be said we taught them to stand tall & proud, even in the face of history & the future was made new & whole for us all, one child at a time.
One of Us
Someday, the light will shine like a sun through my skin & they will say, What have you done with your life? & though there are many moments I think I will remember, in the end, I will be proud to say, I was one of us.
Listening For the Future (Feminine)
I’m on my way to the future, she said & I said, But you’re just sitting there listening & she smiled & said, It’s harder than you’d think with all the noise everyone else is making.
Listening For the Future (Masculine)
I’m on my way to the future, he said & I said, But you’re just sitting there listening & he smiled & said, It’s harder than you’d think with all the noise everyone else is making.
Kindred Spirits
You’re the strangest person I ever met, she said & I said you too & we decided we’d know each other a long time.
Indecision
torn between wanting to stay & wanting to go & worried it will be the wrong decision either way
Illusion of Control
If you hold on to the handle, she said, it’s easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it’s more fun if you just let the wind carry you.
Imagining World
In my dream, the angel shrugged & said, If we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination & then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand.
Falling Into Place
deciding everything is falling into place perfectly as long as you don’t get too picky about what you mean by place. Or perfectly.
Deepest Desires
Wish for your deepest desires, she said & when I asked if they’d come true, she said they always do, so you might as well get them out in the open while you’re still young enough to correct any serious mistakes.
Deepest Secrets
O no, she said, you can’t say just anything to the wind. Only the deepest secrets will do & also you must not use the letter i.
Connection (we)
there came a moment in the middle of the song
when we suddenly felt every heartbeat in the room
& after that we never forgot we were part
of something much bigger
Careless Future
The future is a funny thing, she told me one day,
because we’re the only ones who care about it.
Blank Future
this is a picture of the future & you’ll notice that there’s a lot of blank space
because people haven’t made up their minds about it & the future doesn’t have
a lot of time for that kind of indecisiveness
Blue Squares
We lay there & looked up at the night sky &
she told me about stars called blue squares & red swirls &
I told her I’d never heard of them. Of course not, she said,
the really important stuff they never tell you.
You have to imagine it on your own.