100 (Or More) Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Sleep under the stars. *
2. Swim in a public fountain.*
3. Give $50 dollars to a complete stranger.
4. Go skydiving.
5. Go to every country in the world.
6. Learn to speak a different language.
7. Go on a random road trip and not know where I’m going.
8. Be in a peace rally.
9. Be on T.V.
10. Learn how to play at least five different instruments.
11. Have my work win an art contest.
12. Go backpacking in the Appalachians.
13. Go horseback riding.
14. Climb Mount Everest.
15. Make a difference in someone’s life.
16. Have a beautiful child.
17. Make my own t-shirt.*
18. Win at monopoly. *
19. Get married.
20. Go scuba-diving.
21. Go snorkeling.
22. Start a band.
23. Volunteer with a relief organization.
24. Sing in front of a large crowd.
25. Meet at least one of my favorite bands.
26. Give my heart entirely to someone.
27. Stand on a live volcano.
28. Save someone’s life.
29. Ride an elephant. *
30. See more than 100 bands in concert.
31. Learn how to drive a stick-shift.
32. Eat an ice cream cone 10 scoops high.
33. Be someone’s best friend.
34. Start a food fight.
35. Sail around the world.
36. Learn how to skateboard. *
37. Be able to play “Eruption” by Van Halen on guitar.
38. Learn how to play drums.
39. Be a member in the audience of a T.V. show. *
40. Comfort a dying stranger.
41. Try sushi.*
42. Have a book published.
43. Have my hair in dreads.
44. Go to Yosemite.
45. Have purple hair.*
46. Meet Jimi Paige.
47. See the ancient pyramids.
48. Throw a huge party and invite every single person I know.
49. Tell someone the story of my life, sparing no details.
50. Write a children’s book.
51. Swim with a dolphin.
52. Go to the Louvre.
53. Learn how to salsa dance.
54. Witness a solar eclipse.*
55. Climb all the steps of the Eiffel Tower.
56. Learn to fly a plane.
57. Ride a camel.
58. Crowd surf.
59. Dance in the pouring rain.
60. Go to Disney World.
61. Go windsurfing.
62. Invent or discover something that changes the world for the better.
63. Go cliff diving in Acapulco.
64. Have a star named after me.
65. Fall in love.*
66. Shower in a waterfall.
67. Ride on a roller coaster.*
68. Make love on a beach.
69. Visit an active volcano.
70. Hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
71. Fly first class.
72. Build a house.
73. Visit the world’s largest book store.
74. Find a four leaf clover.
75. Learn to juggle.
76. Do the splits.
77. See a shuttle launch.
78. Feed a homeless person.
79. Donate an organ to someone in need.
80. Drive the Autobahn.
81. Catch fireflies with someone I love.
82. Raft through the Grand Canyon.
83. Cross a country on a bicycle.
84. Surf.
85. Cross a glacier on foot.
86. Win the lottery.
87. Solve a Rubix Cube
88. Experience zero gravity.
89. Memorize pi.
90. Walk the Great Wall of China.
91. Learn to ride a unicycle.
92. Touch a tiger.
93. Ride in a hot-air balloon.
94. Run a marathon.
95. Send a message in a bottle.
96. Have my portrait painted.
97. Give every belonging to Good Will.
98. Live in a foreign country for a year.
99. Play a game of truth or dare and always pick dare.
100. Live without technology for a year.
101. Live in a tree.
102. Jump on a pogo-stick.
103. Wear moon boots in public.
104. Meet Stephen King.
105. Set foot on all seven continents.
106. Swim in the Great Barrier Reef.
107. Play rugby.
108. Be in two countries at once.
109. Swim in the Ganges.
110. Attend the Olympics.
111. Visit every capital city in Europe.
112. Shake hands with someone who has truly changed a country.
113. See the Northern Lights.
114. Watch a meteor shower.
115. Speak in an accent for an entire day.
116. Kiss someone in the rain.
117. Perform on the street.
118. Write a will.
119. Take a vow of silence for a day.
120. Go to Burning Man.

"Ballet of Lovers"

Poor soul, the center of my sinful earth.
Locked in this endless dance, forever mine.
You and me, we know what it's really worth.
This love is as sweet and bitter as wine.
This caricature of intimacy
Will not withstand the beating of our hearts.
This darker half, this pestilence is me.
Drowning our love and tearing us apart.
This charade we're playing is crumbling.
How can we keep this up? We are doomed.
Doomed to keep falling, forever fumbling.
This flower died before the first bud bloomed.
So, poor soul, center of my sinful earth,
Will you tell me what this dance is worth?

This won a writing contest that my creative writing teacher made me enter. It ended up getting published in the yearly anthology.

I'm going to start posting my poems, I think.

"Inky Escape"

The ink runs down the page in a frenzied fury of escape.
The hasty writing jagged and broken with rage.
The emotion explodes from the pen,
Decorating the paper in a violent array of dreams.
The hand behind the pen shakes with the pain of release
And truth, but it does not stop.
The thoughts free-fall in a cascade of memories and nostalgia,
Filling the stagnant air with broken promises.
The darkened lines scream out in longing and
The forgotten wishes breathe themselves to life.
The words slow into doubt and disbelief.
The weary hand drops the pen and
Abandons the guilty paper in unreason.
But the ink still runs down the page…