'Warm Winter'

She was a new born girl of just twenty days,

Who went back to heaven;

Didn't get the chance to stay.

He was a little school boy crossing the street

As he passed the rubble

Of where his neighbor's house used to be.

He was a boy mixed up in his head,

So he tried to make shapes

With the bullet holes in the wall next to his bed.

She was a woman trying to be a mother,

But how can she?

When she just lost another.

He was a young man gone because of loyalty

For the place he was raised in,

And it all came at the expense of his family.

He was an old man walking through the door

Unto his three grandchildren,

Who were orphaned because of war.

But He and she and they

Never asked for it to be this way.

But that’s what they got,

Yet the world lives everyday.

They gave them a 'warm winter,'

Or that's what they say.

But no one tries to see,

Because no one wants to hear

That no one was never told,

That a winter is better left cold.

This Year

If you asked me what I want this year

I won't tell you what you want to hear.

I could ask for things that come in boxes with ribbons,

Things whose beauty is not so hidden.

I could ask for things wrapped in pretty paper,

And a little card wishing things sooner instead of later.

I could ask for all the things you can have.

All the things I never had.

But thank you, you never asked.

Because the things I could want will never last.

But the things I really want can never be;

Not because of fate, it's just reality.

I want things money can't bring

Like a song that hearts can sing.

I want just a day when no one dies,

Or to watch the news and no mother cries.

I want a day when the human life is priceless

Or to see a day when money becomes worthless.

I want gardens of flowers and springs.

I want hope that’s not hanging on a string.

I want a day when I can dream,

Just one dream that doesn’t end in fear.

I want a day without seeing suits and ties

Shaking hands, smiling to the camera, telling lies.

I want a smile on every face,

Or a remedy for the heart that aches.

I want a day when justice is served,

Or just a moment when the truth is heard.

I want to see the setting of the sun,

And with eagerness pray for another to come.

So as you can see,

These things can never be.

It's not fate, its just reality.

So thank you, you never asked

About the things I'll never have.

Reflection

571,190,400 seconds, how quickly they pass.

9,519,840 minutes, can never come back.

158,664 hours, how long they last.

6,611 days, significance they lack.

216 months, how small they seem.

18 years, where have they disappeared?

Seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years;

How many more will I see?

This is Not a Love Song

What happened to us along the way?

What happened to the hands that care?

The eyes that cry?

The heart that hurts for another's loss?

Have we abandoned who we are,

Forgotten our reason and our cause,

Only because it is easier to hate

Than love those who bring you pain?

But the power of the later is stronger than spite.

I am not talking about love at first sight.

I am talking about the love that is rare in its kind

The one that is so hard to find.

The love for the poor and the hurt.

The love for that fellow human across the curb.

This is not a love song, but it is.

It's the love that can save us all.

The one that erases bullet holes on the wall.

It's the love that can make us cry,

When a little girl in another country dies.

This is not a love song, but it is.

It's the love that ceases to exist.

It’s the kind of love that humans resist.

Because it gains us just a little more

Than satisfying moments for the soul.

This is not a love song, but it is.

It’s the love that makes us live,

Gives us hope that life can't give.

It’s the love that lights the night,

Ends the world's constant fights.

This is not a love song, but it is.

This is not a love song, but it is.

This is not a love song,

And that is why no one knows the lyrics.

You're the One

You kissed each of your mother's hands

And left that note in case you don’t come back.

Inside you confirmed the eternity of your love

Asked her to be strong and never give up.

You promised her after darkness there is light

And after death there comes life.

Then you signed it off with a word of love

Telling her you're proud to be her son.

And you left your house that day

Never knowing if you'll be back again;

Because every time you leave your home,

There's a likely chance you will be gone.

But that day was the one you lived for.

It happened just like you dreamed,

While looking in the eyes of your foe

And in His name you screamed.

It only took one shot,

To get you there and across.

But in your heart you knew you won't be gone

You believed your memory will live on.

So from your spirit I pray the world can heal

And to your actions they take heed

Because you're the one they call shaheed.

The Wedding

Today it was coming to be;

The drumming, the dancing, the laughter,

It was all beginning to be real.

And there she was beside her father,

All dressed in white.

Walking towards the future of her life.

And when he held her hands,

For a moment, it felt like time could stand.

But time was ahead of her, ahead of him.

Ahead of the wedding that could have been.

Had it not been for that sound,

The one that brought everything to the ground.

And turned the drumming into bullet screams,

And the dancing into a frenzy of fear,

And turned the laughter into tears.

It made their new found home a pile of sand,

But she still firmly held his hands.

No longer a bride dressed in white,

Just another widow wishing back her lover's life.

Had it not been for that sound;

That turned her dreams upside down.

She would have still had no clue,

That a happy ending could end so soon.

I Was There

I was there through it all,

I saw you rise and I watched you fall.

I was there at your best,

When you were the center of the rest.

I thought how wonderful it is

For you to have a life like this.

But I watched it all pass,

Too quick and way too fast.

I watched you grow beyond your years

And slowly develop fear after fear.

I watched your dreams being seized

And others forced upon you despite the pleas.

I saw your world being thrown in an abyss

While every face you knew was dismissed.

I saw you care when no one else did,

And the scar in there, you so well hid.

I watched you achieve with no acknowledgement,

Like the things you acquired were of no significance.

I saw you watch them plan their lives

While you were on hold, put to the side.

I watched you keep your thoughts to yourself

Just so they won't bruise anyone else.

I saw you perfect this act of pretend

That everything was fine, no need to amend.

I watched you cry yourself to sleep

I felt you pain it was too deep.

I heard your blatant silent scream

And watched everyone refuse to hear.

I watched you live lifelessly

Breathing to survive tiresomely.

I saw you smile but I felt your ache

I watched you laugh, but saw your heart break.

I was there through it all

Beginning, end, rise and fall.

It's unfortunate that I have to say,

Hoping hopelessly for better days,

That this knowledge of your history

Frightens the feature out of me.