A nomadic heart, From home depart, Long steps to clear my head.

From smooth paved street To dirt ‘neath my feet With no direction I mindlessly tread.

An unmarked line Free of city’s whine A calming peace envelops me.

Between the hills A cool wind chills Leaves rustling on a lonely tree.

A long dirt trail Break free from jail Of clouded daily perspective.

A gentle breeze Puts minds at ease Anxious thoughts ineffective.

Until at last Day gone too fast To the world I must return

A fleeting joy For this troubled boy My next escape I already yearn

My hands grow weak as quickly as they grow For every snap, clap, claw, and grasp I’ve yet to hold all there is to know Gently yet boldly will I still clasp For tomorrow there is to go Onward still, much to sow

In the lands of the hunchbacked granite giants that have risen from the deep sea. Embarking from the feet a feeling of deep small and youngness has come over me. As I enter the base the giant firs with bark so fierce the Douglas firs are as hairs on the giants feet. The trail that leads to to the top like veins guiding as the canopy steals the light.

My friends are like my rope And I am the climber My only source of life Surrounded by a void

If the rope snaps and falls So does the climber Both of them falling With no good resolution

But

If the climber loses their grip And falls The rope will stay Slightly strained But positioned As if in honor of the fallen climber

So if I fall Please stay In honor of me

A serpent laid his body upon a branch that came from a tree. It was full of fruits that weren’t touched by the people. “The snake bit one,” as I said for I was the one who crumbled under the venom. It took a hold of me like a blooming bud without passion, love, or knowledge of what had taken control of me. Though only mission I had to do know. Was to eat the fruit I shouldn’t touch for it wasnt a good burden to bare. I went to the tree pulling of an apple that represented my mind and took a bite. The tree wilted and rotted away and so did mine in a deep depression leaving 2 ripe apples on wilted vines. Then I took a bite of the next apple that was the representation of my body. As I took a bite the tree wilted even more to the point it couldn’t stand and I started to feel gross of myself and the things I have done… So, there was one last apple and I took a bite out of the last one. The apple now represented my heart which as I took a bite my heart turned dark and so did the land and people before it. I started to feel like my family would judge me and I judged myself for doing something that they never knew of. All I could do is weep to God, day and night under a wilted tree over my wilted mind, heart, and body. Then I saw a drop of blood fall upon the tree and the tree sprung alive without leaves but still life. Which I was shocked of. “Has God answered my prayers,” I cried… the serpent hissed and spitted hatred upon the blood that spilled over the tree, as the blood poured all over my mind, heart and body. I felt the blood cleanse my veins from the poison that had held me down in temptation and fear. I felt my soul lift up and I stood below the newly formed tree, even prettier then it was before. Even though the snake is gone. Temptation is still going to linger even cracks fill with anything that spills over them* But even through it all Jesus cleansed my soul…

Where it began is not where it started It began with water The same when it started That was carried Then came losing myself To bring you The ending of our journey It ended with blood And then air and a cry

get off me I yawned as a charade

get off me air felt like ambrosia

get off me I was dionysus

get off me cast from godhood

get off me I seized my yawn

get off me breathless I fled

get off me I entered a space of familiarity

get off me I lay, yearning for relief

get off me but I did not ascend

get off me what once brought comfort, brought peril

get off me rest akin to death

get off me so i lay

bruh screw this— I’m taking my inhaler

Combed grass and shattered leaves Broken needles and cracking knees Bundled in jackets and worn out sleaves _My _world is a palace _I _cannot leave

Water sloshes _my _socks, it feels like honey A thought caked in time and kind of funny But the welts and spite threatens the chummy- Ideations I hide to keep food in _my _tummy

Discomfort is temporary and “they seem just fine” Jumping and frolicking, no call to whine A procaline spread awaits them; a shrine A cockany of bustling, bumbaling mimes

For life is perfect when you’re left unaffected By a world thats not crafted to keep you infected _I _blame not myself but the ‘people’; directives Who make quite a scene and declare _I _was “REGECTED”

For _I _freeze in the warm I’m not meant for the cold But the dire weather has made me bold

A flu like feeling is all i am left with For the life I have “chosen” was endlessly deceptive Sworn freedom at the price of pure self-relience A philosophers dream, a fools best kept science

So I coo in the face of this rotten mold _ I _hold in my lungs a Cheshire gold A filet of bone, a platter of old; Dead and dying, flesh sold-

To the highest bidder - from years of endless wanting I escaped from a cage built by paraless hunting - Envy is my great escape. But in a body that’s shaken, I must break; a slate. A tongue woven as bate. Lunges dried by hate.

Down past the Cypress trees, on yonder by the creek, Underneath the shade of trees, but still in Summer’s heat, Innocence pranced into the woods, on a quest for fun, Hate slithered behind, seeing a chance for some, The two danced and played, until Hate grew tired, And at a moments notice, all of innocence’s innocence expired. A push, a shove, a rope, a branch, A mother’s cry saved a life by chance.

The bus was busy, claustrophobic in fact. The seat I was sat on, if you can call it that, was the space between the bottom step of the bus exit and the backseat. Next to me was a bag of fish ready for the market. The smell was putrid but atleast distracting from the Spanish chatter. We were headed towards Tyrona national park, a place of tranquility and beautiful beaches. And yet I felt sick with worry and anxiety that I wouldn’t get off the bus in time before throwing up over our luggage. My stomach was churning as we jerked round corners.