Hovering above, thoughts absorb within a cloud

formed by fear and questions that lurk

profusely raining down on my mind aloud

there's no clarity seen through the murk

Unsure if my own thoughts even exist

influenced by others getting in my head

assisting fears, with no answers forms mist

this clouded mind is why I'm misled

The opening for others input has closed

as the raining thoughts of theirs subside

the opinions left behind have been disposed

now my mind, the decisions I decide

With a lock around my own fears

my mixed thoughts chained, to now converge

as the once dense fog slowly clears

through the cloud of uncertainty, I emerge.

What makes a child smile

With the frivolity of youth

The ease of holding parents at bay,

is a problem that is moot

Although some doctors would rather tell

of actions not-withstanding

Their hands are tied by laws and such

the child smiles while grandstanding

And then within the scope of things

These feelings are well past

The child, in parents arms crying

"How long does this pain last?"

When finally child and parents meet

as trials and failures open doors

With hearts and love, and sacred thoughts

Family guidance returns to the fore

From childhood’s hour I have not been

As others were—I have not seen

As others saw—I could not bring

My passions from a common spring—

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow—I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone—

And all I lov’d— I lov’d alone—

Then—in my childhood—in the dawn

Of a most stormy life—was drawn

From ev’ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still—

From the torrent, or the fountain—

From the red cliff of the mountain—

From the sun that ’round me roll’d

In its autumn tint of gold—

From the lightning in the sky

As it pass’d me flying by—

From the thunder, and the storm—

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view— I'm in a scary midst and it seems all alone.

-Dave Linus Jnr

she is wise

and wary of flames

but still, she knows

she will survive the fire

life scorches sometimes.

she has been a phoenix before

and every time

she burns to ashes

she knows

exactly how to rise

again.

she carries

destruction grief

carved river deep in her bones

specializes in

wrecking ball

knows how to bring

the whole thing down

surveys the broken

claims it as wholeness

and names it all good

she knows well

the holy necessity

of beginning again.

she has gone mad

for beauty

found rapture in shadows

calls poetry her religion

she seduces uncertainty

like a dominatrix

bows to no god

names herself goddess

builds alters

to the divinity

of heat and sweat and sex

and claims righteous ownership of

the body she has been given.

she once held her truth

in bone marrow,

locked deep.

but she was always

prone to fracture

learned that words flowed best

at the broken spots

she wrote splinter point novellas

told shatter stories

knit words into worlds

and worlds into heat

and heat into breath

and breath into medicine

and she learned her voice

had the power to heal.

she lives transparent now

welcomes the feel

of air on bare skin

throws arms wide

holds out her heart

and says here

take this

all of it

she figured early

that far too much energy

is invested in veiling

truth

in hiding bodies

in cloaking love

she refuses

to cultivate shame

she saves her effort

for vital things.

she knows that

love is expensive

and always worth

the price

she knows home is not

where she lives

but something

inside held

and sometimes

only found by leaving

she knows that walls

are imaginary

and that open doors

are everywhere

and that eventually

we will all

make our way

back to the sea

back to the crashing waves

back to salt water truth

she does not believe in one day

no happily ever after

or black and white

hard truths

her forever is now

she finds her rapture in the fullness

of this moment

humanity is her only dogma

kindness her communion

and church a mountain top

in the center of the desert

while the city pulses below

she speaks amen

in every holy fragment of existence.

she always knew she’d have daughters

knew she would mother them well.

she teaches them the value of their

outside voice

their no voice

their yes voice

their my entire being is a templevoice

she teaches them that their spirit

is truth

and their truth

is strength

and their strength

is vulnerability

and their vulnerability is a gift.

she knows too many girls

are broken before they

become

she has done battle in the name of rebirth

carries her scars with fierce grace

she finds beauty in the breakdown

and wholeness in the shatter

strength in the fault lines

and goodness in everything.

she is not afraid to name her gifts

knows the magic in her words

knows the spiral in her hips

she has a vital spark

at the center of her longing

she has secrets behind her eyes

and will share them

with anyone

who asks

but she only wants those

who commit

to asking.

she knows that compromise

is for vocations

and that spirit

is non-negotiable

she accepts no labels or limits

build her a box

and she will dismantle it carefully

use the pieces

to create a stage

and sing her own wild song

knows there is a power

in the melody we carry in our

bones.

She knows the lotus blooms

in mud

she knows the phoenix

goes down in flames

she knows the rapture of lust

and the escape of captivity

she knows the center of the paradox

is where the truth is found.

she is full of sky

full of starshine

full of goddess flame

bleeds words

speaks truth

welcomes it all

howls at the moon

she is a girl on fire

she is stoking the flames

she is lighting the world

she burning to ashes

And always she is rising

And rising

And rising again

She‘s a SURVIVOR!!!

-DAVE LINUS JNR

Love..

Has a way of wilting

Or blossoming

At the strangest,

Most unpredictable hour.

This is how love is,

An uncontrollable beast

In the form of a flower.

The sun does not always shine on it.

Nor does the rain always pour on it

Nor should it always get beaten by a storm.

Love does not always emit the sweetest scents,

And sometimes it can sting with its thorns.

Water it.

Give it plenty of sunlight.

Nurture it,

And the flower of love will

Outlive you.

Neglect it or keep dissecting it,

And its petals will quickly curl up and die.

This is how love is,

Perfection is a delusional vision.

So love the person who loves you

Unconditionally,

And abandon the one

Who only loves you

Under favorable

Conditions.. what a thorn heart.

-Dave Linus Jnr

A combination you’ll probably never hear again

My partner in crime

We would cast fear in those who crossed us

And cause trouble for anyone that looked at us wrong

Laughing harder than we should have making the teacher quickly silence us.

We were the dynamic duo

Going to that corner you found to escape the world and talk about our future together

Our stupid arguments about things that matters, being more serious than they needed to be and ending it off in a screaming match

Calling each other and spewing pointless things for hours

I guess you can say we were on top of the world

Cracks in foundation we mend for selves

Peaceful vibrations through chaos

A helping hand always willing to lend

Together rules have a tendency we are to bend

We can be ourselves with no need to pretend

Our crazy mixed is the perfect blend

Magnetic connection some may never comprehend

Together the whole world we’ll take on and apprehend

My partner-in-crime till the end

Puzzles pieces we can’t be separated

Our hearts locked and the key’s been damaged.

A brave girl never cried

she smiled like there was nothing to hide

she followed her dreams

never ripping at the seams

a brave girl brightened everyones day

on a dark night in may

she was no where to be found

for they laid everything she believed in the ground

a smile did shine but it was fake

she seemed fine but her heart did break

never would this brave girl admit

that the pain had hit

silently crying in her room

quietly praying it would be over soon

a brave girl could not break down

so she would fall apart when no one was around

her mother held her tight

and whispered don’t give up the fight

tears ran down a brave face

no longer did she feel disgrace

her heart did ache

her soul did break

“i know i let you down”

she whispered with a frown

“i don’t want to cry

i don’t want to say good-bye.”

a brave girl looked at her mother so unprepared

she said for the first time in her life

“I’m scared.”

I love her because shes a brave girl in pursuit of her dream..✍

When my love swears that she is made of truth

I do believe her, though I know she lies,

That she might think me some untutored youth,

Unlearnèd in the world’s false subtleties.

Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,

Although she knows my days are past the best,

Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue;

On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.

But wherefore says she not she is unjust?

And wherefore say not I that I am old?

Oh, love’s best habit is in seeming trust,

And age in love, loves not to have years told.

Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,

And in our faults by lies we flattered be.

One day a young man was standing in the middle

of the town proclaiming that he had the most

beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large

crowd gathered and they all admired his heart

for it was perfect.

There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most

beautiful heart they had ever seen.

The young man was very proud and boasted

more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of

the crowd and said, “Why your heart is not

nearly as beautiful as mine.”

The crowd and the young man looked at the

old man’s heart. It was beating strongly,

but full of scars, it had places where pieces

had been removed and other pieces put in, but

they didn’t fit quite right and there were

several jagged edges. In fact, in some places

there were deep gouges where whole pieces

were missing.

The people stared — how can he say his heart

is more beautiful, they thought?

The young man looked at the old man’s heart

and saw its state and laughed.

“You must be joking,” he said.

“Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect

and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”

“Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect

looking but I would never trade with you.

You see, every scar represents a person to

whom I have given my love – I tear out a piece

of my heart and give it to them, and often

they give me a piece of their heart which fits

into the empty place in my heart, but because

the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges,

which I cherish, because they remind me of the

love we shared. “Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart

away, and the other person hasn’t returned

a piece of his heart to me. These are the

empty gouges — giving love is taking a chance.

Although these gouges are painful, they stay open,

reminding me of the love I have for these people too,

and I hope someday they may return and fill the

space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running

down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man,

reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart,

and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old

man with trembling hands

The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart

and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and

placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart.

It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect

anymore but more beautiful than ever,

since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.

They embraced and walked away side by side.

~ The End~

Socrates is considered as one of the founders of Western philosophy.. you can google that.

He was once named the wisest man on earth by the Oracle of Delphi. When Socrates heard that the oracle had made such a comment, he believed that the statement was wrong.

Socrates said: “ I know one thing: that I know nothing.”

How can the smartest man on earth know nothing? I heard this paradoxical wisdom for the first time from my school teacher when I was 14 or 15. It made such an impact on me that I used Socrates’s quote as my learning strategy.

“I know nothing” to me, means that you might be a wise person, but still, you know nothing. You can learn from everything and everyone.

One thing that I like better than learning from my mistakes is to learn from other people’s mistakes. Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have great mentors, teachers, family, friends, that taught me about life.

What you will find below is a list of the most important things I learned from other people and books. Some of the lessons took me a long time to learn—but if I had to learn these things all by myself, it would take me a lot longer.

We might learn things quickly, but we often forget things at the same rate—and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of the things we’ve learned.

Here are 25 of those reminders that others taught me.

1. Struggle Is Good
Never say “I can’t take it anymore.” Say “Bring it on!”

2. Don’t Complain
Complaining is the biggest waste of time there is. Either do something about it, and if you can’t, shut up about it.

3. Spend Time With People You Love
That’s your family and best friends. If you don’t have a family, create one. Most people in life are only visitors. Family is for life.

4. Don’t Start A Relationship If You’re Not In Love
I’ve done this more than once. You kind of like someone and think: “We might as well give it a shot.” Not a good idea. You’re either in love, or you are not. Don’t fool yourself. It’s not fair to you and the other person.

5. Exercise Daily
I didn’t get this until recently. A healthy body is where you have to start everything in life. If you can’t build a healthy and strong body, what CAN you build in life?

6. Keep A Journal
No, keeping a journal is not for children. It helps you to become a better thinker and writer. “I don’t want to be a writer” you might think. Well, how many emails and texts do you send a day? Everybody is a writer.

7. Be Grateful
Say ‘thank you’ to everyone and everything. “Thank you for this beautiful day.” “Thank you for your email.” “Thank you for being there for me.”

8. Don’t Care About What People Think
We all die in the end, do you really think it matters what people think of you?

9. Take More Risks
Don’t be such a wimp.

10. Pick An Industry, Not A Job
If you want to become good at something, you need to spend years and years doing that. You can’t do that if you hop from industry to industry. Pick an industry you love and start at the bottom. You will find the perfect role for you eventually.

11. Lead The Way
When you find yourself in a situation where everyone looks at each other, it’s time for you to lead. You‘re a leader when you decide to become one. There’s no initiation or a title. Just a decision.

12. Money Isn’t Important 
It really isn’t. But you have to train yourself not to care about money. Don’t become too dependent on the stuff you own — otherwise, the stuff will own you.

13. Be Nice
I don’t mean you should be a pushover. You can be someone that doesn’t take shit and be nice about it. Just don’t insult people, think you’re better than them, or act like an idiot.

14. Learn Every Day
You’ve got to train your brain to stay alert. You don’t have to read a book a day to learn every day. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from the people around you — be open to what they can teach you.

15. Rest Before You Are Tired
Even if you love your job, and every day seems like a holiday, you need to take time to rest. You’re a human and not an android, never forget that.

16. Don’t Judge
Just because people make different choices than you, they are not stupid. Also, you don’t know everything about people, so don’t judge them — help them.

17. Think About Others
Just be mindful, that’s all. We all have families, bills to pay, and our own issues. Don’t always make everything about yourself.

18. Give Without Expecting Something In Return
Don’t keep score. You will become a bitter person if you do that. Give solely for the joy of giving. If you get something in return, great, if you don’t, great.

19. There’s No End Game
We, as species, just are. Don’t try to figure it all out. Enjoy your journey.

20. Enjoy Small Things
I like clichés because they are true. Especially this one. You know why? Everyone says they know it, but no one lives up to it. They just chase big things.

21. Don’t Take Yourself So Seriously
Yeah, yeah, you’re an individual, and people have to take you seriously, I get it. But at the end of the day, we’re all a bunch of ants trying to chase the same things. Lighten up.

22. Don’t Blame People
What’s point? Do you want to punish them? You don’t do that to people. Also don’t blame yourself — you’re only human.

23. Create Something
Not to leave a legacy, you won’t be here to see it anyway, but to be of use. Make music, write a book, build a table, anything. You’ll feel good about yourself, plus you give something back to people to use or enjoy.

24. Never Look Back Too Long
Reflecting on the past is only good for one thing: Learning.

25. Take Action
Don’t just sit there, do something. Without action, there is no outcome.

You might know a lot. But like Socrates, you and I know nothing at all. So we have to keep learning.