the year i never

the year i never

even saw coming,

the year i had been

counting down

to

my entire life.

the year my 'never's

became my

reality.

the year i opened my 

mind and my windows

on the highway,

the year i felt

the wind on my hands

and the sun on my

face.

the year i learned that

change isnt always 

a bad thing,

and that life is

a series of changes

with very few 

concretes and even fewer

absolutes.

the year i began to

look up to the sun

and tell her i

didnt want to be afraid

anymore.

the year i sat in a parking lot

and said yes to the moon.

the year i threw out

all notions of sense

and all inklings of

logic.

the year i decided

to stay

a child.

the year i shared with

the people i 

love.

the year i grew

with new friends

in a new place.

the year i made

mistakes,

the year i learned 

lessons,

the year i had

adventures.

the year i found myself on a

bridge overlooking the

tracks-

the year i looked

to my left and saw

you

standing there, begging me to

jump.

the year i realized

that the world is my neverland

and its okay to

explore a new corner

sometimes.

tuesday is laundry day

while youre busy with your moon-chases, your sun-dances, and your bridge-crossing, dont forget to make time to stop and allow your mind and your heart to be renewed by the simplicity of normal and boring and sane. to always be on the run is as exhausting as it is exhilarating and even the most daring of people need to sleep until noon and watch daytime tv with the person who knows them best once in a while. as we grow older, our lives may begin to pick up speed and we may become accustomed to days and months without brakes or stoplights. one day you'll wake up and realize that your internal clock is like the one in your first red car, the one that, no matter how many times you correct it, is always 4 or 6 or 11 minutes ahead. it is in moments like those that we might want to sit under the trees we've been climbing for so long and suspend the to-do list that never seems to end and allow one brief moment to overtake us, encompass us, and tell us that we are still the children who wondered what it would be like to fly one day. 'extraordinary' is a thing that, by its definition, can not exist day after day, in every moment. if it were to exist without an end, it would be... ordinary. its okay to admit to the comfort found in being absolutely, awe-strikingly ordinary and in fact, if we stopped trying to lead storybook existences and started doing and being what makes us feel happy and free and alive, maybe that's exactly what we would feel: happy and free and alive.

there is a place where the

there is a place where the
logic and the concrete cease to matter--where
the weeds will grow and shake your
hand and the fences are stained with rust and
fingerprints of drink-deep men and flower-chain children--this
place is spotted with sunshine and crowned with
leaves.here is the place where the wind will
tell you her middle name,the place your eyes became
my thursday jeans hanging on the clothesline--here is my
you(th) everlasting

okla-home-a--you

home is in your eyes its in the upwards inflection of your voice when you say my name its in the glow of the moon-king off the damp pavement in the east parking lot home is highway 75 north and home is that moment when i turn the corner and catch your smile and know that every step brings me closer to your heart home is in the somedays and the what ifs and the politically correctness fading every moment home is the way your laugh grows wings and rides the wind and home is in the 'remember when's and the 'lets go there's and the 'ive always wanted to's home is in the way i catch you looking at me with a smile and in the way you say i'll call you every night but we both know that we'll forget and home is standing on a bridge overlooking an empty riverbed and throwing away anything that ever made sense because logic has no place in our reality home is the smell of coffee and the open road and home is always changing always growing always being redefined but home is the most like home when home is with you

dancing on the highway

my mind is a map that continues to be drawn as i take in each breath-live each moment-grow every inch-learn every step. day after day i explore untraveled corners, build heart-bridges, and shift the mountains that lie on the horizon, leaving trails behind me as i move forward. we are always told that x marks the spot but what if your life is just one big x and what if the spot is actually just the world. you may rest your head at night in the most specific coordinates but i assure you that your words and your efforts and your essence reach far beyond the x you may draw for your life. x-o-x-o. reach-out-and-Be.
to live a life of riches is to invest your time, your knowledge, and your heart in the new kid from carolina and the treehouse by the river. do not question the urge to dance on the highway or write on the baseboards. open doors for others and doors will be opened for you. do not forget that there is never a wrong time or place to love and Be love. live in constant thanksgiving and remember that you are given so much more than you deserve. stop and ruminate on the nature of your current state of grace and dare to look the sun in the eyes and ask her about her day.
xo.