Empty Bottles Full of Stories Read online

  but hey,

  I’m working on it, right?

  And it’s a struggle

  I go through every day.

  The same as everyone else,

  and that doesn’t mean anything,

  other than the fact

  that I’m just like you.

  I’m the same person

  I have always been

  and I always will be.

  A million followers or not.

  I’m still the same

  young boy looking for a way out.

  Looking for a way in . . .

  that is,

  into my own head

  and my own heart

  and being known has nothing

  to do with it.

  I’m still searching

  for all the things

  that bring me happiness.

  It is the pursuit

  that drives me

  all along.

  SOCIETY

  We blame society

  but we are society.

  Teach the children

  to be better,

  to be different.

  The world

  is full of

  second chances.

  We could still

  save our home

  and we could still

  change our hearts

  to create

  a better tomorrow.

  REJOICE IS PERFECT

  Genocide is not profitable.

  Destruction is not beautiful.

  Death may bring peace

  but not under the cloth of violence.

  Please save our people.

  Please heal our children,

  women, and men.

  Please bring hope

  back into our lives.

  We seek peace, not war.

  We seek love, not hatred.

  We seek togetherness,

  not isolation.

  We need one another.

  We need trust, change,

  and revolution.

  We need humanity

  to crawl itself back

  to our hearts.

  (Where it originally came from.)

  We need hands

  rich of life

  and not death

  and emptiness.

  We need rejoice.

  Rejoice.

  Rejoice.

  Pain is not the celebrity.

  Let us,

  the people who feel

  not worship the wrath,

  the control of the banks.

  Let us,

  the people who love

  brace together

  and overcome their hate.

  Give us back our people.

  Give us back the love

  we once had for ourselves.

  Give us back our dreams

  you stole.

  Give us back our confidence.

  Give us back everything

  that belongs to us . . .

  and give it back with interest.

  There’s still

  so much we can do

  with whatever bit

  they give

  us back.

  STORMS

  Summer rainstorms,

  calm seashores,

  and gentle nights

  full of stars.

  And I think,

  this is where

  the year ends

  but this must be

  how the chaos of me

  begins.

  B. OBAMA

  I did a post once

  about Obama.

  After that

  I could tell

  how many of you

  loved him

  and how many of you

  hated him.

  I don’t know why

  each side is on

  each side.

  I wrote about him

  because I was inspired

  at the very least

  by his farewell speech.

  He said,

  “Yes, we can.

  Yes, we did.

  Yes, we can.”

  The crowd raged,

  they raged in light

  and love, they raged.

  Now back to my post.

  I found this pic of him

  throwing a football

  in the oval office.

  I had never seen a president

  do something so humanizing.

  It inspired me a little more.

  I wrote “legacy”

  on the caption, across the feeds . . .

  for millions to see.

  Out of good things

  sometimes

  come bad things.

  With a heart full of positivity

  sometimes hatred

  isn’t too far away.

  Many of my readers were angry.

  Upset because I made a post

  out of respect to our president,

  to our leader,

  regardless of what he has done,

  whether good or bad.

  Many began to unfollow me,

  which I came to this conclusion

  after that.

  If you want this world to heal,

  then we must all be open

  to the opinions of others.

  We must all respect

  one another as equals.

  How in the world

  do you expect to function,

  to earn peoples’ hearts?

  Put it like this,

  now if you have a friend

  who appreciates something

  you don’t,

  you’re going to unfriend them

  over it?

  Perhaps not, right?

  But it’s the same idea.

  I honored Obama

  and got hate for it?

  Well, my old friends,

  that says more about you

  than it does . . . about me.

  Overcome the hatred.

  Overcome the narrow path.

  Not everyone is going

  to agree with you.

  Not everyone is going

  to feel the same way.

  GET OVER YOURSELF . . .

  and let in

  instead of out.

  Yes, you can.

  Yes, you did.

  Yes, you can.

  THE REALIZATION

  How could you

  think you are weak

  when every time you break,

  you come back stronger

  than before?

  PIERCING SOUL

  I can see it

  in your eyes,

  you’re hiding something

  or maybe even

  someone.

  So keep telling yourself

  you don’t need me

  to help you

  because

  one day,

  I’m going to find you

  and you won’t lose

  yourself again.

  And when it happens

  whatever it is you’re hiding

  will come out

  and believe me,

  it will inspire you

  to love yourself

  again.

  FEELS FAMILIAR

  And when I am

  with you,

  everything feels familiar.

  Like two people

&n
bsp; finding love

  after a lifetime

  of watching it

  slip

  through their hands.

  WANT IT OR NOT

  The soul prays,

  whether you know it

  or not.

  There is a divine signal

  coming from the middle

  of your brain,

  where all the atoms break.

  Believe in this,

  that the soul prays

  and when it does

  it asks for all the things

  you’re asking for

  whether you’re asking

  or not.

  Believe in this,

  when good things happen,

  when bad things happen.

  When tears flood

  through your eyes

  and when laughter

  swells your lungs.

  Believe that the soul prays.

  Believe that it prepares you

  for all things

  whether you want it

  or not.

  Believe in this.

  Believe in words,

  feelings,

  and things you cannot see.

  Like signals,

  symbols,

  and the way your heart

  breathes.

  It is true,

  that the soul prays,

  whether you know it

  or not.

  Believe in this

  before you go.

  Believe that all things

  that happen . . .

  come to us

  whether we want it

  or not.

  ENOUGH IS NEVER ENOUGH

  There is enough

  human suffering in you

  to collapse a building . . .

  so why cause damage

  to other people?

  Why pain,

  hate, and tears?

  Why not love,

  kindness, and laughter?

  I know it’s difficult

  but the effort

  is worth a place

  in the sun.

  Love hard

  and love broken people

  even harder.

  OF COURSE

  Yes, of course,

  I could survive on my own.

  I could swim,

  run, think, and break

  without the help

  of other people.

  I love myself

  and I have always looked out

  for myself

  the best way I know how.

  But I swear,

  sometimes I feel the urge

  to be held,

  understood, and loved

  in the sweetest way.

  Sometimes,

  I do need someone

  to talk to,

  to hold on to,

  to love, and to live with

  as well.

  Sometimes,

  I just need someone

  to lean on over

  and whisper:

  “I can’t see

  another day

  without you

  and I need you

  in my life

  just as much

  as you need me

  in yours.”

  That’s all.

  BEST KIND . . .

  Everyone is going to see you

  how they see you

  no matter what you do

  or say.

  No matter how good

  you are

  or how bad things get.

  You are you,

  so keep slaying, baby.

  Self-love

  is the best kind

  of love

  and there’s no doubt

  about that.

  DISTANCE 2

  Distance is more

  than two objects apart.

  It is the struggle

  we all go through

  when the heart

  and the mind

  can’t seem

  to get along.

  I AM NOT SORRY

  I’m sorry

  I’m cold with you.

  I’m sorry

  at times,

  I don’t know what to do

  or what to say.

  And I’m sorry

  I never have

  the right words

  for you.

  It’s just,

  I’ve dealt with hearts

  that don’t break

  too lightly.

  Hard hearts, you know . . .

  hearts that have seen

  too much,

  felt too much

  to even flinch

  a little

  when it all goes wrong.

  And I’ve dealt

  with fragile hearts, too,

  ones that shatter

  the moment the air shifts

  away from them.

  Yes, life is hard

  and loving someone

  is even harder,

  and right now

  you caught me

  at a difficult time

  in my life,

  a time

  where I put myself first.

  A time

  where I only have

  my own problems

  to care about,

  to deal with.

  Yes, it is true,

  I know it sounds selfish,

  but I love who I am

  and because of that,

  I don’t want to sugarcoat

  how it is . . .

  that is,

  if the world is fucked up

  then that’s how

  I want you to see it,

  you know?

  I won’t protect you

  from the truth,

  from what hurts.

  I’m not afraid

  to make you feel bad

  at the cost of being honest,

  at the cost

  of being myself.

  Shit,

  as if we don’t have it

  bad enough already.

  And yes,

  I know the both of us

  have let go

  many people,

  both good and bad,

  and because of it,

  if I must break you,

  then I will.

  And if you must

  break me . . .

  then so be it.

  I love you,

  and I’m ready

  no matter what you do

  or what you say.

  I am here.

  I am here.

  I am here.

  And I

  have nowhere else

  to go.

  IT FEELS THE WAY IT FEELS

  It hurts . . .

  of course it does,

  because we were

  made to hurt.

  To feel.

  To try to understand

  even when we know

  we cannot.

  It hurts . . .

  of course it does,

  and at times,

  we won’t know

  what to say,

  but we will try

  even if the words

  are hard to project.

  It hurts . . .

  of course it does,

  to wat
ch you,

  the people

  we care about

  go through hell

  and not having

  the power

  to heal them

  the way we should.

  It hurts . . .

  of course it does,

  to breathe memories,

  the ones

  that take you back

  to a place

  when it all made sense.

  Where the fire of pain

  was smaller

  than it is now.

  It hurts . . .

  of course it does,

  as it always does.

  When love isn’t enough,

  strong enough

  to save the one you need.

  It hurts . . .

  of course it does.

  The solitude.

  The ache.

  The longing

  to be understood

  and

  the craving

  of human interaction . . .

  of touch,

  of laughter,

  and watching it

  slip before

  our naked eyes.

  My dear,

  it hurts,

  all of it,

  of course it does . . .

  And the wounds

  are deep enough,

  they always are.

  And they will always

  hurt a little more

  than before.

  My dear,

  it hurts,

  believe that you

  cannot outrun this.

  Abandon this.

  Destroy this

  pool of feelings.

  Understand,

  how pain

  is the curse

  that will tear you apart

  but also,

  the blessing

  that will bring us all

  closer together.

  Understand

  that sometimes

  life isn’t beautiful.

  That sometimes

  life is hell

  but we’d rather feel

  the chaos

  than feel

  nothing

  at all.

  ABOUT YOU

  You have so much

  inside of you.

  Like a thousand oceans

  and a thousand moons

  and here you are . . .

  hurting over something

  you’ll soon grow out of . . .

  something

  you’ll soon forget.

  So why carry this pain?

  When all the love

  in the universe dwells

  within you.

  Find it.

  The happiness you’re seeking

  begins

  and will always

  begin . . .

  with you.

  I OFTEN . . .

  I often think

  of whom it is

  you are thinking of

  right before

  you go to sleep

  and sometimes

  I wonder

  if it is me.

  I wonder,

  and I cannot say