tourists and moons

(on the freeway tonight, I was driving with the family in the minivan....and I had a breakthrough)

 "Hey kids. Look over there at the moon."

I don't know if they looked. And even if they did, I don't know if they thought it was beautiful. They didn't say anything.

This is how I feel about you.

I've been trying to get you all to look outside at the moon. Some of you were already looking at it. And some of you are seeing it for the first time. But I have this nagging feeling that some of you can't see it because you won't look out the window.

Here comes the breakthrough:

I can't make you look at the moon. (Well, I guess I could.) But I can't make you appreciate its beauty. So why am I letting this whole thing make my stomach hurt?

All I can do is tell you about the moon and hope that you see it. If you don't see it this semester, maybe one day you will.

Maybe one day.

I'm Thinking About You

I'm thinking about you #4real
like socks think about shoes even when they're in the dryer
like pencils think about paper unless we're talking about mechanical pencils which mostly just think about lead and when they're going to break and stop working
like vampires think about blood
like Noah thinks about the flood which is really all we ever think about when we think about Noah
like dirt thinks about mud and water really seems important to God's plan.

I'm thinking about you #andthekids
like fingers think about rings
and rappers think about bling
and guitars think about picks and strings and meaningful quotes that their owners write on them and other things
like drug dealers think about money
and bees seem to think about honey
like Cher used to think about Sonny
(until he crashed into a tree)

I'm thinking about you #warning
like stuntmen think about danger
like Christians think about mangers
like candy and vans and milk cartons and passwords and social anxiety and mace sprays and self-defense classes and kids walking home from school and their moms all think about strangers

I'm thinking about you
like sadness

I'm thinking about you #melancholy
like some girls think about ice cream
like ice cream thinks about spoons
like forks think about spoons
and cows think about moons
like ice cream thinks about cows

and how it used to be

like helium thinks about balloons
and balloons think about why they were let go.

These things are how you make me feel

-a neighborhood street corner equally lit by the setting sun and a streetlight. dinner's ready, but 5 more minutes, because there's always time for 5 more minutes. school's out and ain't nothing gonna stop us now. I'm not wearing my shirt and nobody cares, especially me.

these things are how you make me feel

-like Paris in the rain.

these things are how you make me feel

-like free time. an empty notebook and a new pen. all the clocks are broken and the only thing on today's agenda: everything.

these things are how you make me feel

-underwater and the orchestra is playing. the violins and cellos. the violas. my eyes are closed. i can't hear anything, i can only feel it. and it's beautiful. the trumpets are louder than any of my doubts.

these things are how you make me feel

-the moment before i fall asleep. i know i still exist, moreso than i've ever known before, but i'm not really awake. i'm not here.

these things are how you make me feel

-like everything is on the tip of my tongue. this feeling that i've been here before and deja vu isn't the word. a dream where it isn't you, but it is.

these things are how you make me feel

-like I'm young again.

(prompt taken from a poem by Anis Mojgani)

Obama and Mustaches

Obama and Mustaches  (and other things that aren't socially accepted)

by kyle nelson 

Sometimes when I'm bored I come up with lists of possible band names.

And I'm not even in a band.

And that's why I'm so mad at Zac Brown because seriously...that's the best you could come up with? It's not like all the good band names were taken. Let's see...there's:

Mullet to the Chest, Courtesy Flush, Morning Breath, The Sleepwatchers, The Matt Gowdy Project, The Gingivitis Girls, True Love and the Fallopian Tubes (just to name a few)...

But I still haven't come up with a name for how I feel about you.

The reason I love you has nothing to do with math formulas or make-up. We sit under shade trees and we could be a Ford 150 commercial if it weren't for all the muddy shoes and blue jeans.

Sometimes I wish I was the reason you had heartburn. I wish I was the future. I wish I had a reason to hold a guitar pick in my hand. I admire my skin and how it holds everything inside.

Look at us. We're all holding our cell phones in the air and we sway back and forth, even though we don't have service. Cuz baby, we're off the grid and ain't nobody gonna find us here. We're needles in haystacks, we're haystacks in Alaska. I look at you and you make me nervous. Like an ice cream sandwich. (wait...what?)

But seriously, yall. I look out beyond the spotlight and I can't help but notice that you're all a lot cuter in the dark. And I'm a lot funnier when you're drunk. And we'd all be a little bit different in an earthquake.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

I don't really know why I'm saying that, I just like the way it sounds.

I don't remember when I first said it, but I bet I was talking to my mom and I bet I meant it. I hope I get the chance to say it again before she dies.

I saw a solar eclipse last night and I wasn't impressed. Photographs still blow my mind- like we finally figured out how to stop time.

Look around you. There are fires burning everywhere! But you are unfazed. You're as calm as a dead guy's tongue. Your knees are strong and so is your heart. It's like your skin is flame-retardant. And that's cool...

I wrote this poem in my backyard but I was looking at all of you. I know that sounds creepy.

Birds and bees....they can fly too. And I don't think I'll ever stop being jealous.

letter to a young robot

i know you weren't programmed to feel things like this,


but don't forget the memories
i'm not just talking about the moments right before the sun went down and the air when the leaves had just fallen from the trees.
i'm also talking about that panic feeling in your stomach when you were certain something exciting was going on somewhere else.
i'm talking about the banana creme pies and the broken roller skates
i'm talking about the moon, the sun, and everything in between, even if i'm not really talking about the stars.

the clouds that gave you shade are the same clouds that ruined your parade. and one day we'll both be able to say that we miss them. but for now just try to remember.

if I could put it all on a disk, I would. but it will never be the same.

Raise Your Hand

Raise your hand if you've ever been laughed at...
ever been stared at (maybe not you?)
Just- nod your head if you like who you are...
and don't care what these other folks say about you
Raise your hand if you've ever been ridiculed...
called an "original" (nah, maybe not you)
Just- nod your head if you're an individual...
and don't care what these other folks say about you

-from Underdog, by Ben Butler