Shattered Perspectives is a series of visuals and poetry. There will be a total of four parts to this series: self, us, beyond, and now. Poetry has always played an important role in my life. For a while, it was the only form of self-expression I had. Discovering who I really am was driven by my poetry. Poetry was, and still is my voice. The beautiful thing about poetry is that you can be completely honest: to be as honest as possible with yourself and your audience. In this section, we explore Beyond.

Beyond explores two realms: my spirituality and my future. When I came to the University of Portland, I did not realize how much my mind was going to expand. My studies have made me reach the conclusion that in order to reach my fullest potential, I need to have faith in something bigger than myself. This faith might not necessarily be in the Catholic church, and that's okay. I combine these two realms because both the future and spirituality are Beyond our comprehension. We can never fully predict the future, and we can never fully understand the all-knowing creator of the universe. Beyond is a journey into uncertainty.

Beyond:

My feet were pointed towards

the past

in search of a future

that could never happen.

I was stuck on transient memories

of the broken person I was (am).

It left a gaping hole,

rendering me useless.

I look to the stars,

and see and endless universe.

And it terrifies me.

Something so infinite,

something so unknown,

something beyond our comprehension.

Our significance is minuscule

in the grand scheme of the universe.

I lie awake at night,

and listen to the sound of my heart.

I exist.

But how? And for what purpose?

What being decided to breathe life into my soul?

I exist for a reason.

Am I part of a plan?

Where do I go from here?

Questions I ask myself constantly.

I seek a greater truth

in something I do not yet know.

There is something beyond us,

something who guides us.

Who nurtures us to become

the people we are today.

But where will I be tomorrow?

In a week? In a month? In a year?

What comes next?

Shrouded in mystery,

we will never know.

I wish on stars,

in hopes that maybe, just maybe,

I can choose my own fate for once.

I like control in the sense that I want to know how people and events are going to play out. But I know that in order to move into the future, I must relinquish this control. I have to have faith that something Beyond my comprehension will lead me down the right path.

This is the second to the last installment of Shattered Perspectives. Next we will discover Now.