1. “To Perfectionists”

To Perfectionists:

To be perfect

is like a well-written paper,

plenty of effort given,

plenty of skill proven,

yet all that steals attention

is the corner, slightly torn:

"Hands of fate! O how have you forsaken me!"

2. “LOL”

To: Tom

Hey did u reed that book

bout Chauser cuz i didnt

get it. Its jus 2 hard 2

read n I dont kno y

we r doin this.

We r good @ talkin in our

english so y r we reedin

all this ol crap.

Who needs it or even cares?

Canterbary Tales? More

lik i-cant-spell-bary tails!

LOL. its like 2 long,

n e ways busy day but

txt me cuz I dont get it

n ned help 4 the test

Tomorrow @ 9.

TTYL

~ Becky

Sent at 2:00 pm Apr 2

3. “The Tiger”

Playing in the grass

as a mother tended the garden,

a young girl came

across a small monarch

floating into the wind

and to her mother's surprise,

she pointed and uttered "tiger."

Confused, her mother,

as people are trained to do,

corrected her:

"No baby, that's a butterfly",

but upon consideration and thought,

she wondered...

What is a tiger or a monarch but titles?

In this moment, her child only thought

one idea:

that this creature before her eyes

was beautiful regardless.

Why spoil her ignorant joy

with irrelevant knowledge?

4. “Adamant Abecedarius”

Adamant you are in your attempts,

Blatant with your betrayal,

Ceasing only to critique my character.

Done in such a depressing matter, you

Effectively prove your incompetence by

Fluidly speaking its tongue.

Grand you must be!,

Harnessing such thoughts of

Irrelevant skills and ideas,

Joking about how I waste my time

Knowing knowledge.

Little do you know, I will continue

Making influence with my words, being

Non-narcissistic,

Optimistic,

Powerful.

Quick you are to dismiss, but questions you

Raise have some truth to them.

So you say I am flawed, and you are the better.

True in few eyes, but why do you not relent?

Understanding I have become, but

Valid you still assume you are!

Xavier, come quick! This mutant cannot

Yield to its ignorant ways.

Zealous I may be, at least I know my ABC’s.

5. “Learn to Spell”

"Learn how to spell",

"Grammar check",

"You forgot a comma";

Why do these seem to be relevant?

In a world unable to learn

That perfection is but a dream,

But progress and motivation are

The instruments that fuel society?

It is note-worthy that society

Like language must be structured perfectly,

Elements form a building:

Letters to bricks, words to beams,

Sentences to walls, paragraphs to rooms,

And intelligent understanding

To form the foundation.

However, when dirt-stained hands

Lay the final block in this grand construction,

Does he focus on that individual block,

Or does he turn to his whole creation?

Does he worry about criticism from

Ignorant and envious neighbors,

Or does he take a second to

Appreciate such a beauty?

It is a pity, that in a world of knowledge,

Many place just the words under a microscope.

It does not matter how well the pen moves

To perfectly curve the tail of a "Y",

A letter is just a letter,

Until one finds meaning in that

Symmetrical (by choice) image.

Take a second to think

Of just a name,

Any name, it does not matter which,

And when the surface is considered,

There but stands

Two proper nouns.

But underneath, when one recites,

They find memories, quotes,

Anecdotes, quirks, an image,

A life.

And although many would argue,

That there is great importance in the word,

Remember that it is not the name,

But the person with the name,

The context; the meaning.

And same with these words, this society,

That this single message is relevant

To not just "teachers" and "commenters",

Society must not only "learn to spell",

But know what they are spelling.

Perfection may be a dream,

But buildings are still beautiful.

6. “Symbols”

$ is but a # & frankly,

this (greed) found

@ the heart of society

will increase the %

of corruption - the youth,

but they will follow!

Few ? life and seek

to become > the rest of the world.

There are many * * *

over the ^^^ that we have forgotten;

many [bricks] about to break;

many | |'s about to fall.

Everything has meaning and

we need to see that we: society

--> = hope for tomorrow.

Just understand the symbols.

7. “I Guess I’m Just the Nerd”

Things aren't what they use to be,

As many of you can plainly see,

As we as society,

Strive for complexity

When all we need is simplicity.

Instead of reaching for the skies,

We listen to the lies,

And now just watch dreams drift away

Letting our hands fall short of reach

When all we need to do,

Is get up and go,

And grasp at what is easy to possess:

Our potential.

All that is needed is a push,

Not a simple press of the thumb,

But a force of two hands

With effort to send a snow ball,

Building into an indestructible boulder

Ready to fly off the cliff

To turn to snow.

The young are in control

Of the future

As the past once embraced,

But progress halts more each day as

Today's youth become fueled

by too many misconceptions.

Body building and diets,

Apathy and laziness,

Cruelty and selfishness,

"The world is mine",

Not "The world is ours";

Seems like "values" today

Reside in pockets

Instead of hearts.

Turn on the TV,

And what do you see?

Violence throughout not only the world,

But among our own neighborhoods,

Among our own families,

Among ourselves.

Happiness died a long time ago

And every day, honest individuals

Who hold onto an irrelevant set of values

Are becoming extinct.

Seems like common sense,

To say thanks

And appreciate all the beauties and gifts

Granted in this world,

But such words are just words

Like the phrase "I love you"

Among prepubescent teens.

We just need to learn.

We aren't dumb,

but we don't know all the details and

probably never will.

It's sad, yes I know,

but it offers us to learn

through the misconceptions.

But when one considers

The satisfaction of learning

From horrible trying trials,

And learns to not touch a burning stove

After feeling its searing pain,

It becomes evident that with effort in ignorance

Comes knowledge with due time.

To refuse to learn nothing,

Is like the class clown in the back of the class,

Destined for a life of hardship and irresponsibility

Unless they can wipe the makeup off their face

To show the reality that lies underneath.

Squirting water from flowers is only funny for so long

Until the world floods.

But to know nothing but choose to learn

Is the "nerd" in the front of the class

Who knows that there is but one chance

To create a foundation that

Will bring about an exceptional growth

For not only one mind,

But maybe future minds as well.

Kid, we know, when we were young,

Being smart was not smart,

It was not "cool",

But hang in there, it gets better

For time will be on your side.

Just stay strong for this ride,

And abide to the set of rules

Inside your heart.

Nothing can tear you apart.

But when this kid becomes a man,

And soon he's ruling the world

Because as clowns pointed and laughed,

He prepared for it all

And now he has it all.

But then how do we follow suit?

We just need to:

sit down,

be silent,

pay attention,

listen, and

observe.

It all takes patience and effort

And strong filters for all the sludge

In the drinking water

Of today's media.

I don't know about everyone else,

but I don't mind learning.

I guess I'm just the nerd.

8. “Chalkboards”

Placing the palm to the plane,

I lay upon its black surface

my hand, myself, and my curiosity.

Classrooms now a day

are becoming circuses,

spectators entertained by clowns,

restless and eager to leave

while questioning the point

of attending in the first place.

"It's a waste of time; it won't apply in the real world."

And what do adolescents know of the real world,

other than how to spend a dollar

that originates in the pocket of another?

Who needs to learn

when those doodles in that blank notebook

will obviously pass as modern day art?

But let this rant fall

from already-distracted ears.

I pity these chalkboards...

Always filled with vast amounts of knowledge

to be erased at the end of the period for amusement,

adorned with images

by young men obsessed with male anatomy;

I don't get the joke while they don't understand the irony.

But no point to argue

to those who leave the class early,

I'll stand here alone,

lifting my hands off the board,

feeling the residue stick to skin rather than to mind.

People are like knowledge;

we don't care as much as we used to anymore,

and with a single breath,

I paid tribute to Socrates:

"just dust in the wind".

9. “The Writer’s Euphoria”

*This was written on the spot without any editing, so hope it's decent.

Here is a statement, a rant, a proclamation

to non-writers who pretend to know

by ignorant and bias examination

that the euphoria of a writer is but a show:

How could you possibly understand

a practice, a skill, a living,

and skills possessed by this hand,

the will to be giving?

And too many times I hear them

tell me: "give up, why bother?"

And to such words, FUCK them,

the world shall remember:

My words, my thoughts, my inspiration

resonate in their memory,

and to my fellow writers who lost the aspiration,

continue your art, and soon you will see

That we are the artists, the voice

of the better future tomorrow and of today,

but it is your ultimate choice

to be influential, but do as you may.

And pitiful it is to not care

of this feeling, this love, this euphoria

to write these words and to the world I share,

but that's just my story, huh?

No it is not, it is more than just the individual;

it's the light-headed feeling, the fuzzy head

of written drugs addicted, the practice influential

which upon being read will strike them dead.

Yet continue to mock, to say it is pointless,

that this feeling is dramatic, an "over-exaggerated tear",

to those who could not, would not, should not understand, I couldn't care less,

that this is our pleasure, the euphoria of a writer.