Snapshots of A Simpler Life

When I was younger I was the girl who traded in black buckle Mary Jane shoes for muddy sneakers when school let out.

I was the girl who used to pretend that the slight crater in the otherwise flat backyard was a pool to jump into on a hot day.

I was the girl who could make the world out of an empty Pringles container and some colored paper.

I was the girl whose worst fear in the world was the movie “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”

I was that girl who would try to dig for fossils in the dirt patch under the swing set.

I was the girl who would do cartwheels over sidewalk cracks and get yelled at for it in the process.

I was the girl who could recite the exact words of a storybook before I could even read.

I was the girl who saw the Disney movie “Mulan” and went around the house trying to Karate kick furniture and sing “We are Men.”

There are some times when I would give anything to have those days back.

Fear of the Ominous Darkness

When you turn off the lights at night

And look in the mirror, do you still know who you are?

Or have you vanished completely

Along with your reflection?

If you fear the ominous darkness you will

Never be able to enjoy the music of silence and

The beat of your soul.

They say the devil you know is better than

The devil you don’t know

Yet what if the devil you don’t know

Isn’t a devil at all?

We spend most of our lives stumbling in the darkness

Trying to find a switch to find ourselves.

To shed light on the core of our individuality

Maybe it isn’t absent or stubborn or nonexistent.

Maybe it’s just waiting for the right time to show itself.

For someone to acknowledge it through the darkness.

Our identities are not the x factor.

They are the answer.