Months pass by
After living a constant life in a water-deprived desert
Little, tightly compacted diamonds blanket the forest floor
Delivering a wave of coldness,
Exhaling that first breath of winter into the town
Crunching below the snow boots
They fall in the form of snowflakes (God's treasured art)
And melt onto my skin
For the very first time
I clung tightly onto my portable radio
Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" leaks out of the tiny, sharpie-ink-stained speaker
All amidst the center of nowhere
Stop stressing, working, playing, talking, and thinking for a moment
Right now, it
Feels like the cold air welcoming you
Smells like frozen pine needles
Looks like wildlife footprints marking the snow-covered Earth
Taste's like ice
Sounds like Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" blended with the sound of static
I wish I could capture it all
Preserve it in some glass jar with a red ribbon tied around it
And store it in a pantry of first-time memories
Inhale the sweet scent
Right now, I realize
How significant nature can be
Set foot on the frozen lake setting the fish's life on pause
The ice melting into your un-zipped fashion boots
Enjoy the first sight of falling snow
(How little did I know how much that largely would influence me)

Days pass by
And another family rips apart like the seams on a child's worn-out blanket (both are heavily sentimental)
Leaving emotional scars from morose battles
They teach you to carry a shield
Stand up right after you fall
I learn this when
I meet my great aunt for the first time after
Years of separation due to the complications of some
Separated family shattered like the frail sheet of delicate glass and
Scattered in bits and pieces, tenaciously refusing to mend
My mom and her embrace each other after all the years of disconnection
She smiles; I see no judgment coming from her like a harmful tsunami
As it has so many times before
(Ripped, torn, shredded. Is that what family is supposed to do to your once-shinning confidence and joy?) She hugs me and right then I could tell
I am accepted for who I am as a person,
Not rejected for appearance or so someone can shield their view of the reality I am
Age, time and beloved passed by her
Too fast, too swiftly before it was supposed too
But she still wakes up in the morning and stands strong,
An example I've needed for so long
We exchange words of advice, morals, lessons and
She lays down the family history on the wooden table
And I can see through my mothers face her happiness is glowing through like
Stars through the night sky
As she grasps fragments of the history in her hands
Right now, the lies, judgment, jealousy and loss
Do not exist
Making homeland buttermilk biscuits for the first time
And it feels like the best thanksgiving
(Even though it's the middle of July)
Just cutting strips of butter and mixing flour
Mixing a new way of life
We all gather, join hands, block out the world and say grace...
Stop stressing, working, playing, talking, and thinking for a moment
Right now, it:
Feels like true thankfulness
Smells like homemade buttermilk biscuits baking in the oven
Looks like a shattered family gluing the broken pieces back together (or just the few important ones after years of damage)
Tastes like blackberry jam and cottage cheese
Sounds like my great aunt beautifully thanking God and Jesus for everything in life
Right now, I realize
I have everything to be thankful for right with me
That it's simple moments like this that truly matter in life
And again
I wish I could capture it all
Preserve it in some glass jar with a gingham ribbon tied around it
And store it in some pantry of the happy family times
Then give someone else that feeling of acceptance
(How little does she know how much that short time has largely influence me)

Time flies again
Nature's water droplets fall from the sky during lunch hour
Blue, tiny, little gems coming from the clouds above dissipate onto the gum-stained concrete
Inputting glitter into the desert
Some classmate is sitting in the far corner;
His acoustic guitar echoes the string of notes that I call magic
Calmly strumming a guitar riff from that Phillip Phillips song
It elicits so many memories
Stop stressing, working, playing, talking, and thinking for a moment
More blue gems, gifts from the clouds above, keep dissipating
Stop caring if the rain smears your mascara
Right now, it:
Feels like comfort
Smells like pencil shavings, nachos, and the city's pollution sticking to the air
Looks like some classmates playing around vending machines
Taste's like frozen, prepackaged school chicken sandwiches
Sounds like the one kid in the corner strumming some Phillip Phillips song on his guitar... staring at the distance (or more like the attendance office),
Lost in the sound like I am
Right now, clothes, shoes, makeup, grades,
Do not exist
Right now, I realize
What is the point of materialistic needs?
I won't need designer labels to feel happy
That it's simple moments like this that truly matter in life
When natures blue gems are falling from the clouds and
The sound of an acoustic guitar are beautifully played
It's all I need to be filled of joy
The beautiful guitar keeps playing as I pull it all in
I wish I could capture it all
Preserve them in some glass jar with a striped ribbon tied around it
And store in a pantry of beautiful simplicity
(How little does he know how much that short time has largely influence me)

Laying in the bedroom as the plastic fans
Blast through the air even though it's the beginning of May
Lost in that Sue Monk Kidd novel
"Hey Jude" on playing through some oldies station
Staying up endless nights wrapped in writing poetry
And dreams of completing the impossible, (or every possibility in the world)
Watching 80s high school movies on a fuzzy retro television
The invincibility that comes with summer
Stop stressing, working, playing, talking, and thinking for a moment
Right now, it
Feels like everlasting youth
Smells like cheap, generic hairspray and home-made laundry soap
Looks like the pile of rejected poetry you just wrote all last night
Tastes like cream soda
Sounds like plastic, electric fans and "Hey Jude"
I wish I could capture it all
Preserve it in some glass jar with a pink ribbon tied around it
And store it in a pantry of true happiness
Right now, I realize
That it's okay to hold precious time in your hands and stop it for a moment
Feel the tick tock of all the worlds clocks and the cycle of the universe
(How much I love how that has influenced me)

I come across a map of the globe,
Right then, I realize
How amazing it would be if I could capture and store everyones stories
In glass jars with ribbons tied around them
So humankind, from all around the world,
Can gather together, glue the shattered pieces together, say grace, play in snow, play that one song and
Just one day enter a pantry of memories
Uncap every single lid
And escape in the world's most treasured moments
Poured out on just one wooden table