Just Like You

I’m a little girl

In a little dress

Looking at her mom

Knowing she’s the best

Says to mother dear

‘When I grow up too

Mom, I wanna be

Just like you’
I’m a reckless teen

And my life’s a mess

Mom is always there 

She holds me to her chest

I’m thinking ‘mom someday

I wanna grow up just like you’

Mom pokes me and she says

‘Honey, you’ll be better’

And I whisper

‘No, not ever.’

I’m almost grown up now

And I think I see

What I might become

And who I want to be

And it may not be Mom

It may never come close

But I’ll be who I am

Because no matter what

I know she’ll love me

The most

What Kids Really Need

This is a List of Things that Kids Really Need

Blue skies
And bright futures
Trees to stand under
Puddles to splash in

Lots of sunlight,
Enough time to dream
Grass to lie on
Shoulders to cry on

Good examples
A bad joke now and then
Words to read
And music to listen to

Stories before bedtime
Clear air, clean water
Colors and textures
Hugs and kisses

The smell of
Freshly-turned soil
The pages of old books
French fries
Mom’s perfume
Dad’s car

The feel of
Parents’ arms enfolding, protecting
The warm blanket at night
The scratch of ice under skates
The scream of asphalt under bicycle brakes
All manner of secret handshakes

The taste of
Homemade dishes
Chocolate–dark and light
Adventure
And freedom

The sight of
Hands holding,
People helping,
Stars dancing in the sky
Water rippling and shining
Everything good
To help them through everything bad

And the sound of
Good words,
Birds chirping
Loud music
Quiet encouragement

Don’t give us
Too many toys
The latest gadgets
Lessons in classrooms and expectations when we’re older

Don’t give us what we don’t need

Just give us the world the way you got it from your parents
Give us the world and its blue skies, trees to stand under, puddles to splash in
Just give us the world, however broken

Because we’ll explore it
We’ll fix it
We’ll love it
And we’ll rule it

You Can’t Have it All

You can’t have it all,
But you can have your hands.
And you can have everything your hands can do,
And you can call them your own.
You can have the endless tones and nuances of a piano keyboard,
And the minute folds in a piece of paper.
You can have blinding golden sun-warmth,
And the chill of the reckless, fearless night.
You can’t have the winning numbers at the lotto,
But you CAN have p4000 in your bank account
Because somebody paid you for a thing you wrote in a newsletter.

You can’t have the whole world,
But you can have some parts of it that you could call home.
You can’t have beautiful legs like the Victoria’s Secret models,
But you can have your own legs
And as long as you still got legs you can have everywhere those legs take you
And you can’t have it all,
But you can have movie nights with your family
And you can have tortilla chips dipped in guacamole
You can have a box of doughnuts,
Annual Halloween hang-outs with a bunch of wacky friends
And six cousins on your dad’s side who answer to the arbitrary rallying cry of
‘ANTIGUAS NEVER GIVE UP!’

You can’t have it all–
At least not to yourself.
But you can share a bag of pandesal
A bowl of flat tops
A bottle of sparkling juice
With 10 other pairs of lips
Sitting by the poolside, with no intention of swimming.
You can’t have everything but you can share the bill
When you eat at the biggest Shakey’s in the world.
You can share an enemy, a dream, and something worth fighting for.
You can’t have it all
But you can have 12 years worth of memories
And you can have all the years left in your life to make more

You can’t have it all.
But you can definitely get what you want.
And you can have a choice and a voice and a reason and a secret.
And you can’t have the entire galaxy but
You can have a star that shines just for you,
Every year on the day you were born.

They say
you can’t have it all.
I say, screw that.
Because you already do.

Two Graduation Poems

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the worlds needs is people who have come alive” -Howard Thurman

I wrote these two graduation poems in light of another year that has passed. The first one is for my sister, who graduated from middle school and will be going to high school next year. Her freshman year will be my senior year! *sniff.* She loves surfing and wants to go pro when she gets older. This poem is not just about what I learned about surfing too, but about what I learned about life (so far) that I want to teach her (even if I know she’ll be better at surfing than me!)

TEN THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT SURFING
(And life)

1. Firstly,
Get your bearings
Make sure you know where you are.
Shore behind, sea ahead
And above the twinkling stars.

2. Next,
Watch the waves
The way they curl, the way they rise
Find out which ones are dangerous
For not all of them are nice.

3. Now
Do not hesitate!
You might not get another chance.
Paddle hard, dive in deep
Join the water’s dance.

4. Sometimes a wave will tell you
Just where it wants to go
If it feels right, then follow it–
Like they say, ‘go with the flow’!

5. Remember–
You do not own the sea.
You’re merely hitching a ride.
Treat her with respect and she
Will always take your side.

6. If you end up
In the deep end
Or in the impact zone
Paddle harder or reach for help–
Remember you’re not alone.

7. Wipeouts
Yeah, they hurt like hell
But the waves wash pain away.
Now what REALLY matters
Is how you face another day.

8. Keep your feet firm on the board
But learn to glide and bend.
Be strong but calm and flexible
Take a wise man’s advice–
‘Be water, my friend’!

9. And never
Never
NEVER
Forget from which shore you came
Though you may land on others
They will never be the same.

10. You know what–
Forget what I’ve said here
You’ll learn this all in good time.
Just grab your board and get in there
And remember it’ll be just fine.

The sea is rough and scary
And life is not a joke.
But even the smallest surfers can ride a tsunami
All you need is a little–
Stoke.

The second poem is for the graduating class of 2013. This class has always been a bunch of supportive friends to me and my own classmates and to see them graduate was really a bittersweet experience because even though we’ll miss them, we know they’ve got what it takes to face life–real life–outside school. Congratulations Batch 2013! You rule 🙂 And always remember, Kairos, not Chronos!

They were there before we came.

They always have been.

I grew up thinking,

They always will be.

 

But nothing stays the same.

And now they’re saying goodbye.

And I

and I

and we

are saying goodbye too.

 

What’s going to happen now

Without the ones who always knew what to do?

The ones who led the way

And merely let us follow?

 

I can’t

I can’t imagine

what it would be like to take the lead

take the head of the procession into the future

 

without them joining us,

guiding us

their laughter and heckling

pats on the back, hugs, shoulders to lean on

listening ears,

kindred spirits

 

writers and singers and artists and athletes and visionaries and dancers whose movements echoed the rapid grace of lightning

Friends who always knew what you were up to, what you were going through

Or who bothered to find out

The ones who gave us direction and connection—

 

I can’t

Even

Imagine

Another year

Without

Them

 

But I promise

To look out for those who come after

As they had looked out for us

Welcome them the way

We’ve been welcomed

 

We’re waving goodbye even if we don’t want to.

And their horizon beckons

As we wish them good luck.

 

Missing them,

Proud of them,

Sticking it out until we too

Earn our horizon.

 

For

Indeed

You only live once

Time to try something different! What do you think of the new blog theme? 😉