I must remember

I must remember that I do not have to settle:

I do not have to accept the world and all of its injustices.

I do not have to be complacent or tolerant.

I can and should and shall fight for a world in which equality truly is equality and vitality, vitality!

too much

No one knows you, till is over

No one wants to, till is over

It's as though I'm too young

It's as though I'm too... young

My lips are pale blue

My shivering half-moon

My last night's lost tune

It's the end of the end of the end

We're sinking friendships

We drown more and more

Jonsi

Sinking Friendships

Priorities

So you trade for liquor for blood,

In an attempt to tip the scales.

I think you lost what you loved

In that mess of details

They seemed so important at the time

Now you can’t even recall

Any names, faces, or lines;

It’s more the feeling of it all

An Attempt to Tip the Scales

Bright Eyes

lies

So I'm just the medicine

you take when you're sick

you get well and that's it

I'm put back on the shelf in your mirror

And it isn't exceptional

The course of our fate

so, people love and they hate

and I guess it's just our turn to hate

And you think I'm an asshole now

well, you're probably right

but at least I'm not blind to the facts

I've been wishing were lies

I've been eating for you

Bright Eyes

the softest place

I want to curl up in a soft, soft place

and ne'er come out.

the softest, softest place.

so swaddle me, cuddle me, caress

embrace me with all that you have

here I'll stay

ne'er to wake--

to forever dream

until I sprout wings

and when I do (for I shall one day!):

deck me in shades of purple! yellow! green!

clad me in colors I have never seen

let me become the woman I've always longed to be

Today was supposed to be the day

Molecules decide to change their form

Laws of physics lose their sway

Youthful indiscretion now is suddenly the norm

With the good kids sprouting horns,

And today was supposed to be

Not just another day

Opposite Day

Andrew Bird

silent musings

Yesterday was the Day of Silence, meant to bring attention to the anti-LGBT name calling, bullying etc. that happens in schools. I participated, as did one of my college friends. We spent the day together, silently studying in the library, eating lunch and dinner and walking about campus. While it may seem like this would be an awkward and uncomfortable way to spend the day, I was actually the happiest I've been all week.

I found it really refreshing to not speak all day, to be immersed in my thoughts all day. Too often, I rush through my day, not taking any time to just sit back and wonder. And it was lovely to just walk beside someone, without feeling obligated to keep the conversation going. As we walked across campus, I observed so many things around me that I wouldn't have even noticed had I been having a conversation: the scurrying of the squirrels, the joyful daffodils, the papery bark of the birch. Though it is easy enough to experience and notice these things while walking by oneself, I feel silently experiencing and sharing these things with someone else is one of the most wonderful things in the world.

Later, as we sat in the library, I found myself daydreaming about astronauts, Plato's Cave, faith and scientism, whether medicinal advance truly improved our lives: anything that crossed my mind. Though it would have been nice to have a conversation about these things with someone else, it was nice to simply collect my own thoughts and not be influenced by those who speak first and think after.

Perhaps I embraced the silence for the wrong reason: the silence was supposed to a symbol for the silence that overwhelms the LGBT community. While the silence that chokes the LGBT community is deathly and harmful, the silence I discovered yesterday was beautiful, life-changing. I can't wait for the day when we have no need to protest anymore, when the world is at peace and we can all experience the soul-stirring silence I caught a glimpse of yesterday.