Rain storms are a stage, One filled with sadness. Where you cry yourself out, From internal madness.

The sun is a stage, Where you seem to smile the brightest. You always stand up tall with full confidence, And don't let things hurt you in the slightest.

Snow is a stage, A stage that's the most dangerous. Where the heart's love is frozen under ice, And it's your every intention to not be nice.

But blue skies are also a stage. People can see your emotions clearly With no form of a test. Because it's the best, sincerely.

All the world is a stage And when you were born They arranged it for you Set the props just right, and gave you The perfect little costumes And settled you into the cozy scenery.

As you grew, you explored This world that was set out for you This stage you were placed on Playing with the props, Begging to see more scenery, Rifling through the costumes. And maybe they said yes. Maybe, when you were old enough, They let you peek backstage, At what made it all possible.

You grew bigger, and suddenly you were grown. You realized this stage is yours. You snuck backstage and tugged at the ropes Learned how to open the curtain So all could see you You found the script they wrote And took it For it was only half full.

You scribbled your next scenes, gripping the pen with wild, greedy hands Adding new experiences, new stories And if you didn’t like something, You scratched it out with bold, messy strokes Until it looked okay again And ink stains covered your fingers. You broke into the paint And found a canvas And you painted your own scenery Staining the neat wood floor of the stage That is yours.

And now you stand on your stage Old, but happy Still fingering the paint and ink stains The new costumes you threw together The props strewn across the floor. And as you close your curtain for the last time You smile Just before you signal the lights To go out for the last time.

Aren’t you glad, sweetheart, That they let you see the back of the stage All those years ago Instead of hiding it away from you?

From our cots a new, To our graves of old Our world has created our masks to hold Cradled deep within our hearts we hide Our truer selves to cry beside.

But if my heart was to discard my mask Would I finally be seen at last Crumbled bones lying weak before me With skin so torn it couldn’t hold them I wish my mask would finally be free To show my heart beneath thee.

We grow and grow till our limbs are stretched Reading from our ancient texts Learning from our schoolers past We’re told to hide behind our masks

But if my heart was to discard my mask Would I finally be seen at last Crumbled bones lying weak before me With skin so torn it couldn’t hold them I wish my mask would finally be free To show my heart beneath thee.

My smile shall fade with gleeful eyes Time is fleeting, watch as it flies Wrinkles form as I must age My mask still telling the me inside With each new day another burden to bare I wonder if that’s why everyone stares

But if my heart was to discard my mask Would I finally be seen at last Crumbled bones lying weak before me With skin so torn it couldn’t hold them I wish my mask would finally be free To show my heart beneath thee.

Now see me fully before you now A grave now laying in the ground My mask is withered My mask is weak But now it’s beside my naked face Would you dare to take a peak?

Front and center :naked and bold . Backstage : Afraid , hidden & old . Main : “I’m fearless and a reject . I don’t care

Behind : “ did they like me ? Was I okay ?”

I put on these masks , based on who I am around ? When will I ever stop acting ? When will I ever be me ? Who am I ? What am I ? A mere person of who everyone wants me to be, but me .

You hold your newborn baby in your arms. You cradle them in your arms wondering "how can they be this small". Then before you know it there growing and can soon rollover. After that comes sitting up and they no longer need you to hold them in your arms anymore. Then there crawling and you wonder where the time has gone. After crawling comes walking and they no longer want to be held as much. There growing up. They grow, and they grow, and you want them to stop but they just grow up. Now your baby is about Two and can now say almost full sentences. Now they are Two and are terrible. Sometimes you wonder where your sweet little baby has gone until your little two year old gets tired and wants to cuddle. On thoughs moment's you look upon your toddler and wish that they would just stop growing up. Your child is about Five and goes to school now. They except all your love when you're at home but reject it at school. The first time your child rejected your hug it probably felt like a knife in your gut. Your child then comes home and while hugging you explains that there to old to be seen hugging there parents. At night when your child finally goes to bed, you creep into there room and watch them sleep. While you are doing this you wish your baby would stop growing up. Your child is now a teenager and hates themselves. You tell them that there beautiful and that you love them but they don't believe you because their classmates say otherwise. Your teenager locks themselves in there room texting and calling their friends but can not be bothered with actually talking to you. You miss talking to your child. Your teenager screams hurtful things at you. You go and cry in your room because you feel like a bad parent. Your teenager then comes crying to you and apologizes for everything. Your teenager complains to you that they can't wait to grow up. You smile sadly and say "I don't want you to grow up, you'll understand when you have kids." Your child is not a child anymore. They are an adult now. They have moved out and are even planning to get married. At there wedding, you silently cry to yourself. A year or so later your baby is pregnant. You can't believe it not your baby it seems only yesterday that you were holding them for the first time. You watch as your baby has there own kids and wish that they had never grown up. Then your child tells you that they never want their kid to grow up. You smile, you know.

I told myself I wouldn’t live past sixteen, I felt as if I was a puppet in this world without the strings.

I told myself “ no one will love you “ until I believed it when I was staring at my ceiling at two in the morning.

I told myself I’d never lead up to anything at all crying in my bathroom floor. Then I realized, this is the worlds stage, you have two choices. Be an actor who plays the part or be a writer who tells the story

Are you ready? This is the worlds stage. What are you going to be?

From the time we are born The first breath and cry We are presented to this world In the arms of a nurse Asking for a bottle and pucking On the nurse. The first time we have To wear a diaper

As time goes on we’re now in school Making friends learning plays Upon the stage as we have learned And now we’re grown Uncle Sam is drafting everyone Fighting battles to save our people We fight for our freedom

Finally out and have gotten married Working hard to raise our children Now there grown and on there own It’s time that we retire. We work at home And take some trips before we get to old

The time will come that well get old We’ll end up back in diapers We will not know a lot of things As if we were just born The day will come and we’ll be gone As the baby that was born All the memories are left behind Many are forgotten

                           Written By:
                            Freddie López 
                            04-10-2020

Start small, like a corn seed planted deep in the rich soils of this world, labyrinth of happiness and curiosity

Grow a bit older, and you’re a carefree, smile-speckled ladybug, oblivious to all monstrosity

You stay that way for a little while, but then it all comes crashing like waves, you experience your first atrocity

The butterfly folds up its magnificent wings, seeing only ugliness and sorrow, when there comes the act of generosity

No longer so desperate to be a caterpillar again, he treats his passions and dreams with a new ferocity

You’re going to achieve all your dreams, never crashing, soaring with a high velocity

Everyone deserves to be happy, and ignore the critics with too much verbosity

Past, present, future...just be happy