Characteristics

Hard shell, touch to crack
Weight of the world on their back

Slow to respond
Quick inner alarm

Dominated by green
Sometimes snappy and sometimes mean

Territorial or perhaps just nurturers
Breathes air, retains water

Characteristics of a turtle
Characteristics of a Human

Back Straight

Just because I'm moving in a different direction doesn't mean I have forgotten where I've been
So in case you are wondering
You don't have to remind me of my past sins

I embrace every part of me which includes my history
Having said this
Not every situation will require me to tell
I had to realize I don't owe people an explanation or a look inside every nasty little detail from the past.

The truth is the future gets brighter everyday.
So no apologies for the past
Just seeing things a different way

Jericho

We know communication to be the gateway in any relationship.
It can heal, restore and rejuvenate
However, the problem with communication between people is not knowing how to be vulnerable with each other
Communication on the surface is not true intimacy because one never steps outside of themselves

Its a game of tug-of-war.
Do I pull towards myself to hold on to the safety net called walls
Do I allow you to pull me towards the freedom I don't realize I need

Because of past relationships there are these walls we put up to protect ourselves against those asking us to take a chance
Vulnerability has been seen as a sign of weakness in many when in actuality is can be the greatest freedom
Even if one is hurt in the process, there will always be other opportunities to grow, develop, and mature
It is with great hope each person realizes the revelation behind vulnerability and choose to experience it together.

So, can I trust you with my emotions?
I'm willing to find out, not for you but...for me.

Vacation

Rules on the shelf

Isolation from everything else

It doesn't matter how much time I have left

Because for once in my life I'm allowed to be myself

To inhale a fragrance soft and pure like a baby's breath

An irreversible escape like death

Miles away from old experiences and memories once felt

Free to love and be loved

You are my vacation

Slip and Fall

I want to fall in love
I don't want to plan to fall in love
I want to do so by accident

I don't want to see it coming
I want to cherish every moment
I'm ready to stop running from it

To Teacher, From Student

Father, teach me your will

Teach me your way

Let me have ear to hear the things you say

As I live this life only focusing on today,

I take no thought about tomorrow

I just strive to do the best that I can

I praise you with my mouth and I reverence you with my hands

I long for the day that we will meet as one

I long for the day that I hear you say, “Daughter, Well Done!”

Daddy's Girl

Smooth as a baby’s bottom is the perfect phrase that described my skin.

A perfect 10 was yelled out by a lot of my male friends

A knockout smile passed down from birth

10 inch heels that always make my feet hurt

Funeral arrangements made by daddy for those that attempted to look under my skin

These are the things I can remember growing up

Big brown eyes that matched my mother’s DNA

Whippings on my bottom when I didn’t take heed to the things she would say

Thick hair and eyebrows that are compliments of my daddy

Astonishing looks from classmates when we pulled up in daddy’s red caddy

Anything for me, anything I wanted, and whatever made me happy

These are the things I can remember growing up

Sleepovers, slumber parties, and others were out of the question

Anticipating my first date, and praying for the release of my daddy’s blessing

Tall like a runway model, shaped like a coca-cola bottle, with a 9:00 curfew

Identical to my sisters, restricted unlike my brothers, only name a few

The only sibling living in the household but amongst many on the front pew

These are the things I can remember growing up

Blessed and fortunate than many, with a Superman daddy that could take on the world

Product of his love for my mom, I am daddy’s little girl.