When I was young,

You were already there in my world, 

Invisible but broad in other ways,

And I've always wondered why you stayed,

When all you've done is give,

And I'll I've done is take.

 

You remind me of my childhood,

The karaoke machines that would play 'til midnight,

The sound of fireworks during the New Year's,

And the opening songs of cartoons I watch during the weekend.

 

You remind me of my school,

The voices of my classmates' stories,

My teacher's excited voice as she talks about history,

And the harmony of children who sing songs for goodbyes and hellos.

 

You remind me of my loneliness.

My loneliness that became my fear as I grew up,

My fear that I will be stuck in this silence,

That would slowly suffocate me.

 

You remind me of anger,

The loud bass and the drums,

The anger in the singer's voice,

As they criticize the world and its people,

As they open the world up to reality,

Hoping the majority won't silence the minority.

 

You remind me of love.

Of your crooning voice and sweet words,

Of how the stars align and the fate's design,

Of twinkling eyes and hopeful letters,

That would start something beautiful.

 

You remind me of heartbreak.

Reminding me that not everything is what they seem,

That someday people will leave,

With scars carved to your chest,

So you won't forget their names when they go.

 

You remind me of acceptance.

You told me to love myself first,

So I can look at the mirror without a scowl,

So I can breath comfortably in the skin I was born,

So I can find a joy that I've always dreamt of.

 

You remind me of youth.

Of blooming flowers in the dirt path to our home,

Of the hopeful eyes that read intensely at books,

Sounds of coins as kids squeeze into photobooths and blinding lights,

Of the next generation's loud shouts of 'hear me out.'

 

You remind me of dreams.

Of ink and paper in desks,

Of starry eyes that locate constellations in the sky,

Of rainbows appearing after a rain,

Of hope for tomorrow to be a different way to begin. 

 

You made me feel a lot of things,

Things that make my heart ache and resonate inside of me,

Things that make my tears fall to the book I'm reading,

Or words that give me new hope to climb out of bed in the morning.

 

You comforted me when no one else could, 

You stayed with me even when everyone else left,

You made me live with your beat and your words, 

With just a melody and a bunch of words,

Hastily written in notebooks while riding a bus,

You gave me a world to escape to,

And a silencer for harsh words that escspe people's mouth.

 

You gave me the best of me,

So thank you for not giving up,

Thank you for sharing your words and your hope,

To a world that is slowly dimming due to being lost,

For giving the 'us' who had no voice.

 

So, I guess this is goodbye. 

I hope you will continue to shine bright,

So the dreamless 'us',

Will somehow find a reason to live instead of just breathing.