Left Behind

The things you leave
After you're gone
The things left unsaid
Left unlived
Left undone
The words you might say
Are not here today
But all is not lost
All is not gone
It is in those left behind
Left with memories and hope
Left to remember
And to cherish
Left to carry on

Left behind are the burdens of life
Left to those still to live
Yet the things you leave
Are more important than you think
Left to the people you love
Left to pass on
Those things you shared most
Showing that you cared the most

And above all
It's the love that you have
That gets left behind
It stays with those people
And though hearts break
And never fully mend
Yet like an imprint on their hearts
The LOVE for each one of them
Remains

2/4/2017 -- ALJ

The Introvert's Dilemma

Wanting to be there
But not wanting to talk
Not sure if you can really listen
Among the hammering noise
The music plays on
As the voices ramble on
Sitting on the couch
You tried so desperately to avoid
You're fine with watching the madness ensue
Like you're own personal zoo
But others start to perceive
Your distance as unease
And that you must feel out of place
Though you're okay where you're at
Just not wanting to seem
Uninterested or mean

12/2/16 -- ALJ

HURT

These are the moments that hurt the most
When all I want is to help
But it all leads to screaming
I just want to share my side of things
There's a wall built up
That I just can't breach
That I just can't reach
And the slamming door echoes in my heart
I never say it right
I don't make it better
It's now just so much worse
But I don't want you to change
I just want you to be happy
Stop living in two worlds
Don't make your own rules
This life will beat you in the end

7/17/16 -- ALJ

Remnants

Remnants of the storm
Broken pieces left behind
Gathered together
Still resting on your mind

Plies and piles
On either side
Piled up high

A broken bench
Where we used to sit
Left in pieces
Strewn across the ground

Ravaged by the storm
It swooped in
Crushing and crashing
Hitting anything it found

How to recover
How to mend
The many things
Completely destroyed in the end

7/16/2016 -- ALJ

Life Unplanned

I had it all planned out

What I wanted from life

My school, my career

Having a job, being a wife

A home by the sea

No inland living for me

Having a dog or two

And maybe some children too

But it hasn't happened at all

Not the way that I saw

And I'm still waiting to see

What life has in store for me

But it's the waiting that's hardest 

It never seems to end

But not planning at all

Seems rather quite dull

So I'll write stories instead

Ones that have lived in my head

As I continue to wait for you

To do what you do

Make good from the bad

In this crazy life I have had

You alone can see

The very real me

And though it's scary at times

That you know all my lines

Those said and not said

All the thoughts from my head

There's a great comfort in knowing 

That you still choose me

You shouldn't 

I know I wouldn't 

But you still choose me

Thank you

For choosing me

7/15/16 -- ALJ

Waiting on a Promise

It's hard waiting
To wait on a promise
One that may never come
Waiting for something
That's just not true
So you have to figure out
What's worth it and watch
Just shut out the excess
Focus on the truth

7/13/2016 -- ALJ

GRANDPA B.

I miss your laugh
I miss your smile
I wish you could have stayed
Just for a little while

Just for a moment
So I could dance with you
Please save me a dance in heaven
We never got that chance on earth
But some day, I just know
We'll get to dance together
In such glorious mirth

So save me a dance
Or maybe two or three
I  love you, Grandpa
And miss you so clearly

7/2/16 -- ALJ