Spoken Word Collection #2. Simplicity

By Xavier Echon

“Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed to be simple, is to be great.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are those days,

When life becomes the perfect cocktail mix of dysfunction and chaos,

When stress piggyback rides on my shoulders as a constant reminder of how much weight a bad day really carries,

I have those days.

And on these particular days,

When life seems more like a field of land mines than a field of lemons for life’s lemonade of optimism, I wish I kept memories in mason jars.

Memories that would coat my hippocampus with the sweet scent of, “Remember when,” And “Those were the days back then,” to remind me that life isn’t always a back against the wall brawl to victory.

I’d keep a jar of what you look like first thing in the morning. Because organic is in and isn’t beauty, truly beauty if it’s as natural as God intended? And in my opinion, 10 AM sunshine is the only foundation you really need. And there’s just something about how you use sleep as eyeliner that makes me fall in love everyday. Look I apologize in advance that often times I sound like a broken record when it comes to talking about you. But personally…personally I think saying you are gorgeous is something that should always be on replay.

I’d keep a jar of every spontaneous adventure. Of every forearm sized calzone and burrito, every single second when we sidelined responsibility. I’d download the laughs we all shared and copy paste the smiles so that when life is more hardship than joy, we would always have that moment when we thought we really could live forever off love.

I’d keep a jar of every time I played Love Yourz so that when the demons in my heart loosened my will, the lyrics were there to show me that there will always be beauty in my struggles, just pearl coated bullets of truth to vanquish the doubt.

I’d keep a jar of my ambition to remind myself that I still have dreams to chase and I still have an unfinished picture of myself I want to paint for others. That desire for success that pushes me to fight for every inch life gives me.

I’d keep a jar of that final swish

A jar of that Italian pasta.

A jar of driving with all the windows down.

A jar of all the pieces of heaven I found on Earth.

One for waiting at the airport.

One for every hug.

A jar for all the times I heard

“I love you.”

“I’ll never give up on you.”

“You saved me.”

“I miss you.”

“Fight for me.”

“Fight for you.”

“You inspire me.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m yours.”

“I need you.”

To remind me,

That the summation of a person is less what they accomplish for themselves, but more so what they do to touch the life of another person.

And as for the last jar,

I’d keep it for what it felt like to lose everything. The moment where one diagnosis changed it all. I’d fill it to the brim with all the tears and all the fear, to remind myself I’m human and that imperfection is the real beauty in the grand scheme of things. That weakness is the only way to learn to be strong. And that sometimes you must break in order to one day be indestructible.

I’ll keep this jar to recount the greatest story ever told.

About how cancer ravaged my body But never dented my soul.

I’d make sure to keep this one mason jar just as safe.

To remind me,

On those days,

How much the other jars really mean.