Leopards never change their spots. All good things, like love, They will eventually rot. If love is unchanging Like a leopard’s spots, Won’t it be boring Until the day it rots? Love is like a leopard In the sense that it is only Mortal. Its cries for help will not be heard When its time has finally come: Love is like a leopard’s spots, For it too has patterns unique to all Who happen to bear it. Some love will never fall, Never rot, Never change like a leopard’s spots, But some love will. Some love is not strong Enough to hold on For very long, So it rots, Unlike a leopard’s Unchanging spots.

You are who you are You are beautiful that way A stunningly bright star You are always important with whatever you have to say You may not be the most intelligent or skilled You may not be the most athletic or tough But you are not some hole needing to be filled You are you, and that is just enough Some will loathe you and try to weaken you Out of jealous insecurities or out of gross pleasure Saying how worthless you are to everyone, something not at all true Afterall, you should know you are a treasure Leopards never change their spots They just get rid of the bad characters in their plots

**Leopards never change their spots. ** **** **You can’t except a lot from someone who has never been a good part of your plot. No matter what you thought you have to focus on what you got. “You have to give them another shot” is something I’ve never bought, sure I give multiple chances after we fought, but eventually you have to stop getting caught in the middle of their knot.** **** **The fox may grow grey but never good ** **** **You can grow up and learn better moods and get over the feuds you used to care about tried and true, you can grow up to mature and look at the things opposite of how they used to be viewed. You can change the dudes you hang out with and how you’re wooed, but deep down you can’t change your soul. If you’re unsympathetic and rude, you can’t change to be honest and cool just because you reached adulthood, even if you should.** **** **Peoples honest ways of life can’t be fixed. You can improve yourself but you can’t change your core.** **** **Leopards never change their spots. **

Leopards never change their spots And you can’t teach an old dog new tricks But I don’t hold my breath until you text me back And my chest doesn’t ache when I wake up in the morning I still cry to the same songs And forget to put on sunscreen But I don’t hang out with people who make me tired anymore And now I stay quiet when your name comes up I get angry Just as angry as always And I still feel my smile twitch when someone hurts my feelings I still mourn the friendships that ended The inside jokes that make me ache as much as laugh The things that remind me of people whose voices are blurry I love everyone I’ve loved And I still feel bad for my own hurt feelings My heart is heavy But I’d never trade a heavy heart Because even though its weight hurts I know that means it’s full.

Leopards never change their spots So I don’t know why I thought you’d change at all. You played me You threw me out Like I was nothing And suddenly You were everywhere I looked. You’d never change I’ll never give you the chance Because it’s like giving a bullet To someone who missed their shot At you.

_Years ago . . ._ _I was broken_ _I lost my place, I found darkness_ _I pushed them away_ _The people who still cared_ _I killed my happiness, but blamed it on something else_ _Until . . . That day_ _I lit up from the sight of a girl_ _I changed my ways, I tried to start over_ _And still everyday I had the same thoughts_ _I wanted to kill him_ _The one who took my parents _ _But you can’t kill someone who doesn’t exist_ _So I just yelled, screaming at the top of my lungs_ _I did bad things, things I never would have done if they hadn’t left_ _I hurt my family, I ruined my life_ _And then I found her_ _I decided she was it_ _The reason to change_ _So I turned my leaf _ _I started again, in hope that I’d find my old self_ _The boy I was before I lost my parents_ _The kind boy who cared too much_ _But . . ._ _How am I supposed to find myself _ _If I spent so much time in the dark_ _I killed her mother_ _I killed her heart_ _If there’s one thing I’ve learned about life_ _Its that leapords never change their spots_ I think I’ve found my thing. Writing. I’ve never been able to get my thoughts out, but there’s something about using words on a piece of paper. I’ve been doing it a lot lately, ever since I wrote my first thoughts the morning of Maisie’s mother’s funeral. It was hard, going there. I felt like she could tell, I felt like she was there. She was mad, that’s why it was raining so hard. Because she was mad at me for taking her away from her daughter. I hope she knows I’m killing myself inside, but I also hope she knows that Maisie is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. _Maisie_. I think as I stare at my writing. _I should write about Maisie. _ I kind of already have but I want to describe her the way my head does. Which makes no sense, maybe that’s a thing with writers, their thoughts that make no sense. I twirl the pen in my fingers as I stare at the new freash page. Before whenever a white page was placed in front of me I’d get so freaked out. What was I supposed to do? What if I did it wrong? But now I just smile at the idea of filling it with words that only I’ll read. There’s no stress, no racing heart, just plain excitement. _My heart races like I’m dying_ _But if I were dying I wouldn’t be smiling_ _Even if I were leaving this world_ _I wouldn’t really care_ _As long as the last thing my eyes saw were Maisie’s_ _As long as the last thing my ears heard was Maisie’s soft breathing_ _As long as the last thing my hand felt was her’s tightly hugged in mine_ _As long as the last thing my nose smelled was that strawberry coconut shampoo that always floated in the air when she was near _ _As long as the last thing my head thought was of her _ _Of the girl who changed my life_ _The girl I am and always will be in love with_ I throw my pen onto my notebook as my heart races. I’m in love with her . . . I love Maisie. I didn’t realize it before, that this little race in my chest is my heart begging me to kiss her. That this little tingle in the palm of my hand is the urge to feel her warm skin against mine. Is this love? The way I feel? I wonder if it isn’t then what does love feel like? It must be amazing, the feeling of love. Again I pick up my pen, I guess words are just floating out of me today. Words that Maisie created, _feelings_. _I’ve found the secret to feeling alive_ _The secret to living a life that’s worth living_ _It’s love_ _That little flutter in your chest_ _That little burst of light when you’ve found the one_ _But most importantly . . ._ _That feeling of happiness_ _And if you’re the happiest person_ _I mean the happiest person ever_ _The girl you love decides to love you back_ I hope my girl feels this way about me. ‘Cause I don’t think anything could take this feeling away from me. Maisie is my girl, and I hope that somewhere deep inside her heart I’m her boy. I shut my notebook, rising to my feet as I grab my leather jacket off the back of my chair. I need to find Maisie, I need to tell her how she makes me feel. Not that I love her, because there’s a chance maybe I don’t. But either way she needs to know I’m never giving up on her. . . . I only have to wait for a few seconds after I’ve knocked on Maisie’s white front door before it creaks open. I was worried that it would be her aunt who would answer, but to my relief it’s that most beautiful girl ever. “Davian,” Maisie smiles as she licks her lips. “What are you doing here?” I can’t help smiling as she tucks a strand of loose hair behind her ear. Gosh, she really is beautiful. “You feel like going for a walk?” Maisie nods once, as she steps over the threshold, zipping her grey hoodie. “With you?” She says. “Always.” Instead of our normal stroll around the town we venture into the dark, green forest that circles the world like a gate. We don’t talk for most of the walk, we just let our feet lead the way as we step over logs. “Can I tell you something?” Maisie asks, stopping in the middle of her tracks. “Something . . . I’ve never told anyone.” No one has ever wanted to tell me something like this. Something personal that means the world to them. “Yeah,” I reach out for Maisie’s hand that’s hanging at her side. “Of course.” Maisie sighs as she looks down at our hands that are linked by her side. “It’s . . . I don’t . . .” She trails off, slipping her hand out of mine and lifting her left wrist up to me. Again she sighs shakily, pulling back the sleeve of her hoodie to reveal a deep, scar that’s tracing her wrist just like a bracelet. My heart stops in my chest as I reach out, gently touching the pink cut. “Maisie . . .” I mutter, fighting tears that are pooling in my eyes blurring my vision. I’m glad that my tears are fading the world around me. I don’t want to look at this, I don’t want to see something that Maisie’s done to herself. “Maisie . . . “ I whisper, unable to say anything else. I can’t save her . . . I can’t protect her from herself, and I thought that killing her mom was the worst thing I could do. But not being able to save her from herself . . . Somehow in my mind that’s worse. “Help me . . .” Maisie sobs, and I realize that she’s been crying. “I’m scared.” I want to know what happened, I want to know why she did this. But right now what we both need is to know we’re gonna be okay. I grab Maisie’s hand and pull her to the trunk of a tree. I sit down reaching my hand up to help her sit next to me. Maisie leans her head against my shoulder, folding her arms across her chest as she brings her knees up to them. I wrap my arm around her shoulder, holding her close as I listen to the world around me. The birds flapping their wings through the sky, the leaves that slowly drift from the branches to the forest ground. Everything is still moving, the world is still going even though for me everything has stopped. “Can you promise me something?” Maisie asks, her voice flooding with tears. “A third thing?” I hug Maisie tighter to me, wishing that for one second I could just take all her pain away. “You know you can.” I mumble. “Can you promise me that you’ll stay here, and hold me for a little while?” Maisie asks, her head gently shifting on my shoulder. “Always,” I murmur into her ear. “You don’t have to ask me. You never do.” I don’t want to leave. I almost told Maisie that, but something told me I shouldn’t. We’ve known each other for only a few weeks maybe a month. And yet it feels like years. I’ve been trying to figure out why and I think I finally have. It’s because we didn’t start off with hi and what’s your name? We started off with the darkest, deepest parts of us. We told each other about the shadows in our lives, and it connected us on a level that’s high. I love Maisie Bowden. I realized that when she told me about her scar. I realized that when the feeling of her head against my shoulder was the greatest feeling ever. I love her, and I _know_ I always will.

Stop trusting the wishes that you make on shooting stars Like the dinosaurs, they will only end in regret Do not give your key to the first kind stranger who enters in You’ll learn the frustration of changing all the locks Spare not a shoulder when he comes to you weeping Watch for vampire’s fangs that seek out your blood Do not rest easy when the storm is calm Outside the hurricane’s eye, destruction abounds Doubt every sorry word he gives to pacify you Unless you want to hear them again and again Like the cyclist who drops his pedals on a steep hill You are liable to crash if you lose your breaks He is a wizard who claims change in his spells But uses dark magic to beguile your feeble mind Believe not the penitence he paints across his face You will learn quickly, leopards never change their spots

I guess I put him on the spot Told me to trust him I could not I followed him a mile or two Then froze as she came into view They walked together hand in hand This man I do not understand I stand and try to clear my head I walk home and climb into bed Later on when I hear the key And think of his dishonesty One chance was all he should have got As Leopards never change their spots

In the realm where moonbeams weave tales and shadows entwine, A symphony of secrets unfolds, where Leopards never redefine. Under the celestial dance, where night and day connect the dots, Begin the epic saga, where Leopards guard their timeless spots. Picture the canvas of the cosmos, where constellations gleam, Leopards, elusive and majestic, in the moonlight's softest stream. Their fur, a masterpiece painted by nature's skilled hand, A living tapestry, where ancient stories eternally stand. In the labyrinth of moonlit meadows, they silently roam, A nocturnal ballet, where every movement whispers of home. Their spots, like stars in a celestial ballet, Illuminate the night, as they gracefully sway. Through the corridors of time, in the forest's sacred groves, Leopards carry with them the lore that nature beholds. A cryptic language in spots, an unwritten decree, A testament to the wild, in patterns wild and free. As shadows retreat and dawn unveils the day, Leopards linger in the echoes, where mysteries hold sway. They melt into the sunrise, where the daydreams commence, Yet their spots persist, a legacy in nature's suspense. In the vast theater of existence, where stories are spun, Leopards leave footprints, and their tales are never done. For in the heart of the wilderness, where adventure knots, Leopards, steadfast and true, wear the emblem of their spots.

The person who Abuses Insults Belittles Cuts Hurts Never change “I’m not the problem” they’ll say They just keep going after their prey Hurting them beyond words can say Just for the thrill of the chase They see the hurtful actions of others But fail to look inside To their own black soul Everyone keeps waiting for Change that never happens Leopards never change their spots