And suddenly I wish to be my cat. Let my biggest worry be what I play with or use the bathroom. I wish for that simplicity I felt when I was a kid, because at some point, I got too good at tying my shoelaces, and even better at keeping my grievances in my mouth. It didn’t used to take this much work to be just good. Happiness isn’t a ball of yarn or colored crayons anymore. It’s going to therapy just to tell yourself the bad stuff was that bad, and it did hurt. But you made i

i don't like the ocean but your blue eyes feel so close to the ocean-- like calm, subtle waves slight breeze you put me to ease always each freckle lies a beautiful aspect like speckled sand i feel your skin on me, warm and soft like warm water flowing over your hands i once feared the ocean, but you've changed me

Prologue: “It takes four days for a Willow’s Fever patient to die. That is, four days after the first symptoms appear. The first day, the patient merely believes they ate something wrong or have caught a minor cold. There’s some coughing, a minor stomach ache, but not much else. The second day, though, the family has gotten suspicious, usually the patient too, but sometimes they will remain in denial. The coughing sometimes results in blood, the patient can hardly get out o

You told me to be gentle, I know. But I did not expect the way time was ripped out of my hands. I clutched it, grabbed the remnants I could reach, dug my nails into its soft skin and did not let go. But the sun set then rose again. Time inevitably moved onward, with me spinning with the earth. You, several rotations behind. I still remember being held in a too-tight embrace. I tried to pull you back but you tugged away. Still I held your hand until you let go, carefully,

I am afraid of growing up. I say it as if naming it might slow it. I continue to speak such words as if my spoken word could bargain with inevitability. The body declares what it cannot keep. I have already seen it in my father. The way he carries years now, In a look that does not belong to any single day but to many days that stain and do not lift. And I think of his father, gone now. Every day of work etched into his eyes. My father is beginning to wear that same expressio

A city made of clouds wanders the earth, walls of frozen tears obscuring it from the people below, an opaque swath of water except for a gate through which the spirits may enter. The city of the ancients is where all spirits go when they die, ascending to the heavenly city by the will of their gods. The world never sees the darkness of night, but it never sees the light of true day. For hidden in the depths of the city is the glory of the sun, bringing light and warmth to t

And after all, maybe life wasn’t meant to be defined by the grand moments, but by the quiet ones we forget to keep. The sound of waves moving with ease, the warmth of a familiar voice, the little things that ask for nothing, but our attention. Maybe happiness was never something we had to find, because maybe, happiness was always here, hiding in the little things, but we were too busy to notice.

I look up at the gasping stars in the silence. I know this wind, I know these streets These are my lanterns. But What happens when humans win? When our lights shine too bright- When we are so afraid of black skies we drown the starlight? And When we are but ashes, how will you see us? Dust, my love, but what kind? You will not see stardust, though We burned like stars. But we are not the phoenix. In brilliant flame stars are reborn, the bird made whole but us? We are once an

Every morning, we all walk through the same doors carrying the same basic thing: a bag. But look closer at the hallway, and you'll see it's not really the same at all. Our backpacks are all different, so when you set it down next to your chair, it ultimately sends a different message. So what is yours saying? The Sprayground I hope you are still in middle school with this backpack. With its bold graphics, wild designs, and shark-mouth flaps, this bag is bold and does not ble

Hawaii doesn't get a lot of hurricanes. This year we got a bunch in a row after a long time, and they all happened very fast. Hurricane Lala Lala showed up in August and hit the Island of Hawaiʻi head-on. That's the first direct hit on the island since 1871, which is so long ago that the last one happened before anyone's grandparents were born. Up on the peak of Mauna Kea, the wind gusted to 140 miles per hour, a record for that spot. To put that in perspective, it's about tw

Hike through Japan with me

If I had never met you, and had never learned how love can swallow you whole, then maybe I wouldn’t move through the day, wide awake, but afraid to live. I’d survive moment to moment, each moment moving so fast that I can’t slow down. If I had never met you, and never learned the way your love speaks, then maybe words that are harsh would speak more meaning to me. If I had never met you, and never learned the boundaries of your love, then maybe time wouldn’t hold me hostage