I've taken out some of the descriptions I used to have here because I thought it would be more interesting to let you infer what you will for some of these. I've also un-categorized them just to make it more fun.

I think this one's from back at MCC.

I stand tall.
You pushed on me,
but I did not break.
You put me in the ground,
but I did not die.
I did not stay.
You thought you were the victor--
but while you weren't watching,
I grew.
I grew up from under your grassy roots--
for you pushed me down below you--
and I came back up,
through the ashes you thought you buried me in,
and into the sun.
I grew strong and I persevered,
and I am standing tall.

I took him to a thousand words,
a thousand words or more -
he didn't know exactly what
the thousand words were for.

he needed now to look, to see
to make his choice to give-
he made the choice to have a voice,
he made the choice to live

and still his faith in them are great
and still his candle glows
and as he goes on day to day
his faith in them still grows

--In the bottle--
one for sadness
one for joy
one for you as a little boy
I love you now
and always will
I've always felt you
and ever still

I wish I didn't have such a knack
for remembering
all the things that have bothered me
all the things I've done to people
And more of an ability
for remembering
favors,
thank yous,
things I've done for people
that have made them better.

As you read this, bear in mind I mean every word of it to anyone I consider a friend.

If I had a thousand words to try to make you see,
they wouldn't be enough to tell you what you mean to me.
I couldn't tell you everything, I'd barely even start
to try to tell you all of what you've placed inside my heart.
Your time, your love, your character are all within me now,
and you've never even thought of giving up on me somehow.
Your smiles, your humor, tears and laughs, your presence, your embrace
are also things that you have shown to make me seek your face.
Thank you, too, for standing by to take my hand in yours,
for making do with me & you when life has shut the doors.
You're the kind of friend I keep and pray we never part--
So let me say, "I love you," friend--  from the bottom of my heart.

--I've found that the more I see into my friends' hearts, the more people I could apply this to.

Curl me up
and keep me in your heart-
and I will live there.
I will take all the thoughts that hurt you, dear-
and I will destroy them and keep them out,
I will heal you from the inside out.
I will help you learn
of all the wonderful things
I already see there-
I will take the space left over from the bad things
And fill them with good things

--commentary about one of those days. This one may date back to high school if I remember correctly.

I feel like I'm going crazy
I feel like arrested development
I want to MAKE MISTAKES and
LEARN from them

So I climb the stairs to nowhere
I have nothing on my mind
I'm thinking all about that what you said was so unkind.
Did you mean your words at all
or was it lapse of thought?
Are you worried, bitter, green?
You're my friend, or so I thought.
Oh, I'll chalk it up to something nice,
I won't hold it against you.
I never like to hold a grudge,
but it'll stay with me forever.
Forgiving is the easy part,
forgetting's hard to do.
My self-esteem's been damaged,
and it's all because of you.

--general commentary on how people treat each other

I feel constricted--
It's one thing after another--
People are so STUPID,
through our fractured system of communication,
we just can't seem to get ourselves in order.
And we can't always please everyone,
so we try to start with ourselves,
figuring we can get everybody else
along the way.
And what do we end up with??
What is REALLY here?
Through all the choices in life,
amidst the nauseous turning cycle
of love and hate and love and hate and love and hate,
how far have we really gotten?

--one on a typical reaction of a stranger, a classmate, a coworker, or, unfortunately, sometimes your own parents when they discover you're Christian.

Another comment--
another look.
Am I that strange to you?
I am just like you--
I have eyes, I have hair, neurons and appendages,
I have a thousand mixed-up feelings,
all tangled inside me;
this is me;
this is who I am.
Who I have always been.
And yet, I seem to have suddenly changed into an anomaly before you--
I have discreetly turned into a creature that you don't understand, and don't seem to like.
I have gone from smart, fun, and interesting to irrational, and possibly ridiculous.
But it's all right--
I have forgiven you.
I need to.
You are not the only one.
I always pray that this time will be the last;
and I always know that it won't be.

--In my notebook, this one has penciled in across the top, "Untitled written by me, a.k.a. a day in the coffeehouse" which means it's from when I was at MCC.

Bowl full of
Wild mustang wind
hands full of
tangerine flowering pebbles
The answer squash
quietly picks at a thread.
Oak Pistachio bar
answered for marmalade petunias
about an hour ago.
The wooden dinosaur on the piano
has been told many times
not to trample the purple flowers,
but sometimes he forgets.
I am space orange opposite,
inside-out-october.
I was eighteen chairlike Bohemia,
the green answering pig questioning Cesily.
I let go of Plaid mudsucker making tea.
I will be yellow April purple March of dimes
and how I do know
red white and solid morning.

A Personal Favorite  --this was not written by me.  I have seen it in everything from Dear Abby to the Chicken Soup books, and only one source named the author-- named Veronica Shoffstall, written at age 19.  If you know more about this, let me know.

--After a While--
After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn to that you really can endure . . .
That you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.