[To Our Youth] The Years Cut Deep

"Some birds aren't meant to be caged, because their feathers are just too bright." - The Shawshank Redemption

"One day, flowers will bloom from decay amid all this splendor." - Me

"A lot of the time, you imagine you'll grow up to be a princess. But the years grind people down into misshapen stones, with no edges, full of pits and hollows. That's the desolate soul hiding beneath a dazzling exterior."

"The years cut like a knife, tearing at loneliness."

I dedicate this book to the childhood I've lost, the adolescence I'm living through, and the youth whose end I can't yet see. May we all remember: "The world has kissed me with pain, and I have answered it with song."

A friend's art shop: