To Those Who Matter

Waste seems somewhat of a meaningless
title.
What is waste, and where does it go
once we are done with it?

Am I a piece of waste?
Where is what I aspire
or care to be?

I have questions with no answers.
Although the intent must have fled
with my respect
and my misery.

This waste is numb.

Perhaps I'm far too much to deal with.
Perhaps I'm not assertive enough.

Enough.

Defined:
The expectation or amount
of expectation to which
I aspire to fill.

Enough.

Perhaps I'll just never be enough.
Shoulders are sore and knuckles
are etched in red,
from the pain of my life to which I
scour the highest of heights,
and swim to the lowest of lows
to find what you tell me is

enough.

Finding nothing but old scraps of wasted paper
and orange peels which have lost their scent of citrus
I've found that I've ended that reckless journey in a
junkyard.
Among the foulest manure fill which devours my lungs
in stench from your
expectations.

I wander,
and though you tell me to keep searching.
I look
and see.
Masked by the dirt and shallow
self-indulgence.
I found a prize.

There are many a treasure to be found in the junk yard of my
self-perception.
Shiny rings and bicycle tires. Lost notes and memories which
were scrapped by accident with the junk drawer.
It was there, in the yard, I found the greatest treasure.
A block of wood which once hung upon the door to my
heart.
It read:
You are worthy.

You. Are. Worthy.

Can You Feel the Love?

I hadn't really noticed that Valentine's Day was coming so quickly. I guess I just got wrapped up in...life. Once I finally realized that it was coming-up, I opted out of celebrating the holiday, because I wasn't prepared. Everyone assumed that because I was choosing not to recognize the holiday, that I was some sort of relationship-people-hating-sad-faced-monster, and as I accidentally got wrapped into moping about this self-proclaimed "Single-Awareness Day". I realized, I don't hate today.

I never have, and I don't think I ever will. Today, as I've said before has never been about being with "my man" or going out to have one too many drinks. Today isn't about the Hallmark expressions or the flowers and candy (wait, maybe it is a little bit about the candy), but regardless. It's a day to say (or show, rather) that we love each other.

Should we be doing that every day? Of course! But today is a day you have an excuse to love that cutie you've been eye-ing on the bus, or the estranged grandmother who you never talk to. It's about saying you love your brothers or your sisters without being embarrassed, and more than all of this it's about the love you proclaim for you and yours. 

Today you should take just a moment to reflect on how much love you have in your life, and how much that means to you? Moreover when you realize that today isn't about those people who are incredibly love-sick and happy in their half committed relationships, or even their picturesque ideal Stepford love. Remember you are loved, and David Bowie said it best: "The greatest gift is learning to love and being loved in return." 

P.S. If you have nothing to do today! Click! There's TEN fabulous ideas of what you should do, and for your entertainment, a shirtless picture of Ryan Gosling . HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Ego Boundaries

Ego Boundaries
By: Nathan Rust

Are we Friends? 
Are we Human?

What is my Constitution to 
who I am 
or who I will be?

Have I failed?
Am I flawed?

Perfection seems to me 
to be a distant star,
twinkling, beyond 
the night.

A star
no one can reach.
A star
no one can hide.

It is neither lost
nor found.
It is neither starving
nor full.

I search for the star--
as it blinks among the universe.
Always to be blinded by the
blanket of stars
masking the large
night sky.

My search is in vain.

My mind can't seem to follow
the star as it mends and blends
the virtue which holds my 
hope of life.

Everlasting.

Look--
the light of day dawns.
It meets on the line
of the horizon.
Where the night air 
meets the early morning dew.

As the sun rises, and the stars
are erased, from the blackboard
of the universe.

My smile creases when I beckon
unto the first sounds of movement.
Entering the day, and find
that what I had been searching for
had fooled me so.

For it doesn't exist.