Magic

An older homeless woman came into the optometry office where I work today. She was holding a pair of very expensive-looking sunglasses and I found out later she bought them from my office after she had made an appointment last year. The most unusual thing about this scenario is that she actually had pretty good insurance. 

Anyway, when she came in today, I asked her a few times if she was looking for glasses. She either couldn't hear me or couldn't understand, but she finally stated that she was just looking and brusquely brushed me aside as she roamed around the store.

You know those stories about people who help the lost or lonely and then find out they actually helped an angel or even Jesus himself? My old homeless woman is exactly who I would expect Jesus to be disguising himself as.

It's either that, or she's magic and I've just gained a hundred years of long life for my firstborn child. You know. Either/or.

All you wanted was to be wanted

Fifteen, Taylor Swift

Cause when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You’re gonna believe them
And when you’re
Fifteen feeling like there's nothing to figure out
Well count to ten, take it in
This is life before who you’re gonna be
Fifteen

You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail
And soon enough you’re best friends
Laughing at the other girls who think they’re so cool
We'll be out of here as soon as we can
And then you’re on your very first date and he's got a car
And you're feeling like flying
And your momma's waiting up and you think he's the one
And you're dancing round your room when the night end
When the night ends

Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You’re gonna believe them
When you’re fifteen and your first kiss makes your head spin round
But in your life you’ll do greater than dating the boy on the football team
But I didn’t know it at fifteen

When all you wanted was to be wanted
Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now

Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday
But I realized some bigger dreams of mine
And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy
Who changed his mind
And we both cried

Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You’re gonna believe them
And when you’re fifteen, don’t forget to look before you fall
I’ve found that time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you’re supposed to be
I didn’t know who I was supposed to be

---------------

Taylor Swift may be mainstream, but she does know what she's talking about.

When you're fifteen, you don't know the difference between love and affection, and it's easy to say, "I love you." When you're fifteen, you think anything is possible. When you're fifteen, you make promises to yourself to never forget.

And five years later, you still can't forget.

it is night

merrily tying the knot: fingers drift
slip lick the way across your [sighs],
obscene, yes yes yes they go with
error preceding them
12:36 here but you're just a phonecall
away if the ring ring ring can call
you awake. it may be time for sleep
but all i want is to call
you now now now before you
realize i am destructive [shameful]
hurt. same situation, you should
know, only i was the one to break
the knot, yes the same you tried
to tie
me up stuck here where you left me.

there are more questions where these came from.

Letter to Myself, written March 25, 2007

Dear FutureMe,

I hope you got over your ridiculousness that mostly had to do with boys. You had a lot of problems a year ago, and it got pretty annoying.

Also, you better have figured out what you want to do with your life by now. Time passes by pretty quickly, and you're 19 already. So figure it out, dude.

If you're dating RPC, have a good reason. Please? I don't want to go through all those issues again.

If you weigh more than 130 pounds, start running.

If you've lost touch with [the hobbit], call him.

If you haven't talked to your parents in a while, call them too.

I hope you're still writing at every chance you get. And I hope you haven't changed too much. 18-year-old Rheanna is pretty rad. You don't need to change.

Jesus loves you. I hope you haven't forgotten that.



Peace out, and please take a shower some time soon.




Love,

Me.

Overtime

I tip and I tap,
I type and I tope,
I sit as I speak
and I sip from a cup.
I polish and demolish
and admonish all this cottage
cheese, beans, please, seize
my work from my quirky
Dr. D,
for these words, oh they churn,
they are
eating
me
alive.

Dear World

Dear World,

I miss you.

It's been a while since we've hung out, and frankly, I'm lonely for the way you make me feel. See, I started this new relationship with this society called America and I am just having the hardest time adjusting to how different this new relationship is. Every once in a while, America will bring up something that reminds me of you and it makes my heart feel happy for one moment and then guilty the next. You don't think I deserted you, do you, World? Because that's how it feels to me sometimes. Like I gave up on this great relationship you and I had going.

I'd really like to try and work something out between us again. I've never felt as alive or purposed as I did when we were together. I really think you are my destiny.

Maybe in a couple of years we could give our relationship another chance? I promise I'm more mature than last time and I'm working on being more thoughtful and sensitive to your needs, just like you asked.

Well, America is starting to give me suspicious glances. I have a feeling that she wouldn't want me to be talking to you if she knew about how much I was in love with you or how long our relationship lasted. I wish we could all just be friends, but I'm not so sure that America would be ok with me being involved with both of you. She kind of gets jealous sometimes.

This was just a quick note to let you know that I'm thinking about you. I think I'll have some time off in about a month or two, so maybe I'll come to visit? Hopefully, you won't be mad at me.

I love you, World. I hope you haven't forgotten that.

Hugs and kisses,

Rheanna Lea Cline