Love Presence by Connor O'Brien (17, Washington)

People always tell me I should love myself
Only I don’t know how
Nobody ever taught me
But when others are happy I’m happy
And when they’re sad I’m sad too
But I never stop to ask myself
“How do I feel?”

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That’s why I fall in love too quickly
That’s why I spend so much time with people I like
Because when I’m alone
I always find I’m in bad company

But when I’m with friends
Even just driving around
Listening to music
The voice inside is quiet
And in those moments
I know where I am
​
I don’t really think we were put here for a reason
But if I had to take a guess
I think the reason would be something like this:
To love those around us
While there’s still time to love them.