I wish I had hands that transformed pens to brushes

And eyes that see a haven among

The lonely classroom desks

And abandoned backpacks.

I wish I spoke gold and silver

And could build empires from mere oxygen and

The magic of believing

(Not pretending)

I don't pretend

That magic thrives within my blood as I cast

A hopeful spell to chase all evils.

I don't pretend

The singing doves doing loop-the-loops in the open skies

Nor the fragrant smell of fresh roses painting butterflies within one's heart

Nor the proud, beaming rays of sunlight pushing me onward to start the day

Nor she and her spaghetti hair and whirlpool eyes

Nor I.

I know so.

Fuck pretending.

Fuck believing in something temporarily, thinking it's

Unreal.

When I see your beautiful, beautiful poetry,

I know I see the giggles of laughter and half-chewed breath mints lurking in your words

(Laughter isn't visible? Fuck it!)

I know I see your strong-willed aura blazing through every character

Every bold word

Every italicized sentence.

You breathe magic onto these cold, lifeless computers

Give them a voice

Let them whisper inspirational words to soothe our beating

Broken hearts.

Yet

It's hilarious

Truly, truly hilarious how in fact

All you think you are, and all you know you are

Is a mere girl with a pen.

Because God knows

(and I know)

(probably all your readers too)

You're a miracle,

You do more than just POE-TRY

You succeed

Every

Single

Time.

And so I say, "Thank you."

Because you haven't given me words.

You haven't given nonchalant letters

Nor meaningless rambles of shit.

You gave me hope.

A/N: Story time. I was rereading through charmed-life's poetry book entitled "Alphabet Soup" and I just can't help but be completely and entirely obsessed with every poem. Every time I read through your stuff, it really gets me inspired and really bright and happy, and i thank you so much for having written what you've written.

Hence, why I decided to dedicate this very poem to you. Because hey - you deserve appreciation, and I suppose all I can do is write to you this poem. Here's to many, many more of your poems, Nina! Cheers. :)