When my school closed, I was in 5th grade,
We all stood outside with balloons.
The older kids understood,
The younger ones just played
The principal made a speech to say
How wonderful this place had been
And the amazing things we'd do someday.

They played a couple songs through stereo
I can't remember which one's by name
But the ending, I do remember just the same
Each of us with a balloon, released that day.
But the story you didn't know was one I've never said
I untied my string, quickly, the balloon floated away.

I ran to the classroom, and cut it up
Thirteen pieces for thirteen classmates.
Waiting for everyone to come
But, wouldn't you know, no one came.
I kept my piece for many years
Throwing it out all but recently
My meaning was left at Saint Mary's
And none have heard that until today.

I miss laying in the grass
Even if it made my skin itch,
The freedom was worth the time to pass.
A sun burned face and back
Feels worth a beautiful day turning to night
In a trance where time goes off track.
How I wish I could hold those days so tight.
Gone in an instant, slipping through aged cracks.

If you sing and dance, no matter where you are.
I support you to hell and back.
If you are afraid to ever show your colors
Because people stare and laugh
I hope you take that random chance,
Someone may even start to clap.
Personally, I laugh right back.
Now the same squares are part of the act.
Keep dancing.

Whenever or wherever it rains
I can only promise one thing
I will be found dancing in the street
Even during work hours, I remove my chains
And take a break to get soaked head to feet.
I promise this is a practice I actually do
And you can feel free to do it too.
Be free. Be you.

Welcome to America,
Where we don't judge you by the color of your skin
But maybe you shouldn't say it
If you have to defend saying you have a black friend.

Welcome to America,
Where every election talks about illegal votes
from a bunch of illegal hosts
From the side you hadn't chose
Then throw your opinion down legal throats.

Welcome to America
Where the news said socialized medicine
Was just another word communism
And you believed them.
Another man got a six figure bill for cancer in his throat
Walking out alive with his house foreclosed.
No money for food, wondering streets unfed.
He's alive but he wishes he was dead.

Welcome to America
Where we talk about gun control
They think that a ban is the goal
But maybe we should look more into who gets sold
And maintain a license to keep
Knowledge is power, totting guns but weak.

Welcome to America
Where the internet is your MD
Don't trust the man who got a degree
Who went to school and ruled your move
But you just Googled it so it must be true

Welcome to America
Where I have pride in this land
But everyone is out of line
For reasons they don't understand
Being ignorant doesn't justify your mind
And maybe even I am out of line
But I'm listening to comprehend

Do you think it's odd,
They question a millennial generation
For being in touch with how they feel?
Should I follow you and push it down?
Let's pretend none of it is real, yeah?
"Close your eyes to injustice, kid.
Don't you talk about it, then we'll have to talk about it."
A lot of Hollywood has to talk about it.
Instead of people putting it to god
We put it to our own selves but none aplaud.
Rather appauld that we speak.
I might fit your snowflake type
But my demons aren't melting in my mind
Trickling through as you close your eyes.

Do you think it's odd,
If people don't understand your problem
They label you as a weak link
But  did you ever stop and think
If it was your name in an oppression,
If it was your heart in a depression,
If it was your loved one shooting up,
Maybe you'd feel different.
You can't help fix these cracked streets
If you have your eyes covered in a sheet
You aren't a hero for making a toast
When the problems hit you were a ghost.

Do you think it's odd
That we are all people
But more often than not **** each other
Praying to a god that doesn't pass judgement to you.

Let me tell you of a girl,
Eating a simple lunch under a tree.
Pretzel sticks, an apple, and peanut butter for dipping.
The sky was blue, the sun shown bright.
The kind of day you might describe
As indescribably perfect, unnoticed.
Walked through but not talked of.
She sat embracing it as children played
In a pool near by on this warm summer day.

Let me tell you of a boy,
Who ran to play with his friends
A boy with blue eyes who couldn't swim.
Running with squirt guns around a poolside,
The pavement slick like ice but
The child did keep caution too
Until a kid behind pushed him in.
Flailing arms and voices screamed out
As a girl ran to see what was about.

Eyes closed, water had its hold
As a girl knew CPR keeping him going
Coughing and coughing, maybe it could work
Choking but alive looking at another with worth
Only long enough to fall back out
On the wrist of  the boy was a medic alert.
"Peanut allergy treat with epinephrine"

I grew up in a town with a church on every block,
I grew up in a town with a bar on every block,
On the streets, the same homeless man would walk
Riding a bike or walking on his feet
But everyone knew each other,
So they would wave a hand to greet.
The *** holes were planted like flowers
And those flowers seemed to grow
The adults complain for hours
About a lot of things I'd come to know.

I grew up in a town, it looked a lot like yours
It had a park, it had my friends,
So many nights heading home at dark.
I'd bet you know it just as I
You can even hear the squeaky swings,
If you gave it a try.
We built a bridge to cross the streams,
At day's end talking about our dreams,
Listening to songs that made us alive.

I grew up in a town, I left some years ago.
The streets look mostly the same
Now filled with people I don't know.
Friends will stay in touch, we'll stay in touch,
Friends I now don't talk to much.
Growing up in a small town in such a rush.

Some days

Some days I want to travel,
Have an exciting adventure
Unravel the globe real slow
And hold adrenaline in my palms.
Some days I wish i was something
More than this body dragging me around
More than the clothes setting a status
As the gravity keeps me on ground
Looking up to people who only look down.
Instead of the ones who pave paths
Regardless of anyone coming around.

Sometimes I lay on the floor
Mapping out my mind on the ceiling
Only to run out of ink and out the door
then the rain is still pouring in.
Sometimes I get lost in a game,
In a world quite unlike my own,
Where I play a hero and dragons are slain
All in the name of a throne.
Save the world only to remain.
Unknown.

Some days I wish I could be anything
Move mountains in a moment of time
With one arm I could swing
And make this whole world mine.
Seamlessly craft it and watch it with care
In the air, I could watch it be grown.
But some days, like today, I am tired
And would just like to go home.
Save my world and remain.
Unknown.

Some days i want to travel,
Have an exciting adventure
Unravel the globe real slow
And hold adrenaline in my palms.
Some days i wish i was something
More than this body dragging me around
More than the clothes setting a status
As the gravity keeps me on ground
Looking up to people who only look down.
Instead of the ones who pave paths
Regardless of anyone coming around.

Sometimes I lay on the floor
Mapping out my mind on the ceiling
Only to run out of ink and out the door
then the rain is still pouring in.

One day I gave a dollar to a man on the street
Who held a sign that read simply "help please"
He paid twenty-five cents for water to drink
Then chuckled and gave the change
To a kid passing by who looked bleak.

The child ran to the corner store
And bought two packs of double mint gum
One for himself and one for his chum
But rushed off in such a dash
He left his change with the cashier,
A whole twenty-five cents cash

The cashier used the change to help out a few
A dime for tax on a man passing through
A nickel short each for two ladies buying ice
And nine cents to a man riding past on his bike.
Then I, myself, went to that very store
Only to find I was one penny short
And wouldn't you know all was okay,
The cashier pulled the last cent and said
"Have a nice day."

I don't understand the want
For an absent parent's pride
I'd rather plot and plan with the one whose been at my side.
You can't be proud of trees you didn't grow
While you were off sowing oats
I was sowing stories as a way to cope
"Ryan, understand it's a mutual hate"
I've rerun that line in my mind a couple times
Then realized even your explanations are fake.
In my court, you hold no water
you should do what you do best
And don't bother, I'm proud of me.

All the kids who use to mock me in school
Use the same lame names for every kid
Cheers to Matthew, they called me Harry Potter too
I guess we just stupified them with creativity
Only to see those people grow to be losers for their longevity
While we can turn this water to ***
They still sit stunned.
Give me my cape back, I'm not done.

They tell you not to conform
Then they fight you until you make your own lane
Im playing the same game you chose
But I'm button mashing Konami codes
Until I can make a march of fifty men
Let's hear the backlash of my actions then
All the sudden it's silence until they all cheer
While I'm doing my own, everyone is living in fear
Am I the only one really living here?