I turned on the news tonight, and saw a familiar face
Maya Angelou speaks of Nelson Mandela
“His day is done, our skies are leadened.”

It hit me then,

Forgiveness is more than  “Oh…it’s okay…”

If a man, a single freed prisoner, can change a whole country,
can forgive oppression, and depression, and apartheid brutality,
Forgiveness is not simple.

Sorry is not simple.
It’s a chance, to open the door to redemption,
Entire countries have forgiven the inhumanity of the past,
And yet all of us, each day,
Become angry for such small matters.

If nations can rebuild,
If Polish person can love a German
After the Holocaust,
We CAN forgive.

Forgiveness is the key to our self-imposed prisons.

I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to write poetry that grows sunflowers in hearts like what grew in mine when I was with you

lonely as a dry and used orchard
spread over the earth
for use and surrender.

shot down like an ex-pug selling
dailies on the corner.

taken by tears like
an aging chorus girl
who has gotten her last check.

a hanky is in order your lord your
worship.

the blackbirds are rough today
like
ingrown toenails
in an overnight
jail---
wine wine whine,
the blackbirds run around and
fly around
harping about
Spanish melodies and bones.

and everywhere is
nowhere---
the dream is as bad as
flapjacks and flat tires:

why do we go on
with our minds and
pockets full of
dust
like a bad boy just out of
school---
you tell
me,
you who were a hero in some
revolution
you who teach children
you who drink with calmness
you who own large homes
and walk in gardens
you who have killed a man and own a
beautiful wife
you tell me
why I am on fire like old dry
garbage.

we might surely have some interesting
correspondence.
it will keep the mailman busy.
and the butterflies and ants and bridges and
cemeteries
the rocket-makers and dogs and garage mechanics
will still go on a
while
until we run out of stamps
and/or
ideas.

don't be ashamed of
anything; I guess God meant it all
like
locks on
doors.

It's hard not to
fall in love
with someone

when
they see the
mixed up parts of your
soul.

When
they understand
the darkest and
dustiest
corners of your mind.

When
it's four a.m.
and they call
because
they know you're
not
asleep

A best friend is someone who loves you
You can tell them all of your secrets
They listen to all of your stories

A best friend is someone who accepts you
Someone who supports you
A person who treats you special

A best friend is someone you look forward to seeing
You laugh with them
You wish you could spend eternity with them

A best friend is something everyone needs to have
Someone who never judges you
Someone who respects you

A best friend is someone not feared
Someone who does not make you cry
They won't put you down

A best friend does not say hurtful things
They do not ignore you when you speak
They apologize when they are in the wrong

A best friend should not be intimidating
You are supposed to feel comfortable
You should be able to talk about everything

So what do I call you?

You say you love me
But you have disrespected me

You make me fearful
You hurt my feelings

I bow down to you
Because I do not want you to be angry

What are you to me?

If you are ever to read this
Take it to heart
I am not brave enough to say these words aloud

Because I am scared of you
And that's not fair
Read the first line again

My best friend is a girl who will be herself.
She doesn't give a care in the world.
She will say "***** you world im living my life I want to live it."
My best friend is also my sister.
I love my sister.
She will always be my best friend!

She is my best friend
The one girl who has always loved me and never left me
My side kick in crime
We stalk the cold streets at night
She has held my hand she has wiped my tears and
She has kissed me on my cheek endless times
Showing up at her doorstep ****** and crying
Had another fight at the house
She never judged me
She is there for me an I am there for her
We know no different
From punk kids to young adults
We still howl at the moon
When were drunk and not giving a ****
She is my best friend
The one I can count on when things in life
When things in my life don't seem right
I am her best friend
I have held her hand I have wiped her tears and
I have kissed her on the cheek endless times
When she is feeling lost and hopeless
She gives me a call
I fly I run I transport
I'm there
We are best friends til death do us apart

She's so young
and with her pale
blue eyes she
blinks at a life
containing only
melancholy.

Best friend, though we haven't really know each other for that long we know one another so well.
We walk together through this high-school of hell.
You're a *****, and I'm a ****.
But at the same time it just makes us click.
Go **** yourself you ******, but know, I'm always your **.