I haven't had a place
That's home
In so long.

Sure,
My heart clenched
When I saw my dad
In the airport waiting
For me.
And yeah,
I felt at home
Walking in the door
Of the house.

But no,
The city lights
Did not make me smile.
The rolling river
Brought me no joy.

And yet on the way here,
To school,
I'm a town away
And I can feel
Excitement building
And my heart twisting.

The people are home, yes.
But so is the place.
Finally.

Rise

He rises today
As He always does.
He rises today
As He always will.

For Death has no power,
Not any more,
No strength beyond
What He has given.
And what is given to Death
Will be taken away.

So Rise yourself.
Rise and accept freedom,
Death, and true Life.
The True Love
That the fairy tales forget
Was etched in stone,
Etched with blood,
On the cross.

We can be "just" friends.
"Just" help each other out.
"Just" listen when we need it.

We can be "just" friends,
And "just" be there.

Because how can I
Figure out "me"
In the middle of "us?"

Stop the Music

Can a song end unresolved?
Can we pause the notes,
Stop the music,
Halt its course
And move on
Without any questions,
Any attempts
To start the sounds again,
At least for now?

Spring will come.
I am sure of it.
The snow is melting
And I doubt its return,
For the last attempt
At keeping all frozen
Has not lasted a week.

There are fat robins
And plumb sparrows
Fluttering around the yard
The slowly turns to green.
They mean spring,
Spring is coming.
Finally.

As I walk
With eyes cast down
Pondering sorrows,
I hear a clatter
And lift my head.

A deer skitters past,
Running across the parking lot
Afraid yet seeming
To show off,
Just a little,
Before she disappears around a corner.

I keep walking,
And as I pass the corner,
I turn my head.

There she stands,
Silhouetted by a streetlamp,
In all her wild glory.

"You're beautiful,"
I murmur,
As if post-midnight words
In a language she'll never know
Will calm her heart
And bring her to me.

I take a few more strides,
Then turn again.

She still stands there,
Turning her head to follow me
As I resign myself to sleep again.

I look back once more,
Before I round my final corner.
It was only a few seconds,
But in that little time,
She silently vanished.

As I walk,
Stumble,
Back from the Union,
Drunk on exhaustion,
The night lights
Make the frost seem
Less like diamonds
And more like thousands
Of LED lights
Shining brightly
Making me stumble more.

And thousands of thoughts
Race through my head
As I picture the lonely Saturday
In Barnes and Noble
I considered,
And the plans my father made.

Why won't my laundry
Get done at earlier hours?