1.) If Newborn Babies Could Speak They Would Be The Most Intelligent Beings On Planet Earth
 

They would be fearless.
They would have no idea of originality
and be unafraid of repeating ideas.
Imagine standing mahogany still
when faced with failing.
No one has told them the truth
of how the world works.
They climb without knowing
what falling is.
 

They tell you
 

2.) Trees Are Never Sad Look At Them Once In Awhile They’re Quite Beautiful
 

I get jealous of my friends who have
limbs that hold hands with the sky
to soak up all the sunlight because
they found out that this 
is what they are here to do.
 

I envy people who have their shit together.
The ones who know their path.
They understand the finish line 
and are on their way to cross.
 

3.) People Use To Ask Me What Do You Wanna Be When You Get Older And I Would Say What A Stupid Question The Real Question Is What Am I Right Now?
 

Frightened mostly.
A lot of fear is mixed into this trembling
twig body, scared of staring too hard
at my hands and figuring out
everything I could never be.
That I’m made up of mistakes.
 

4.) Most Trees Are Blue
 

If you look hard enough.
You can see who is great at bullshitting-
who pretends to have it together.
 

You can tell because we have gnarled stumps.
We have decay and holes in our bodies.
Even our carefully constructed homes
are jigsaw earthquakes.
I, juggling disaster.
I, jumbled calamity.
 

Each piece falls apart, 
soft, rotten boards
litter the ground
and I’m afraid to rebuild.
I’m terrified to look.


5.) You Can Discover Everything You Need To Know About Everything By Looking At Your Hands
 

You study hard enough at the freckle in your palm
and the universe opens up for you.
 

6.) Unawareness Is The Only Sin
 

But I don’t want to look.
 

7.) People Hate What They Don’t Understand
 

8.) But Everything Can Be Understood
 

And I understand this:
My hardwiring of action,
all the synapses that collapse onto
something bigger than me.
My want for something more than me.
This need to make words curl at their edges:
it doesn’t matter.
 

That, this mouth 
unable to bark or snarl,
this tree is more weeping than willow.
Cracked spine, ready to fall,
arms splintered branches
and my hands
stubbornly try to cover
jagged chainsaw teeth that
cut me down.
 

9.) If You Want To Understand If You Search For Truth
 

It will eat you alive.
Grind you alive.
Swallow, spit, and leave you alive.
 

10.) Once You Go In You Always Come Out Alive
 

Failure always leaves you alive.
Failure always succeeds at that.