creeds expire.  i suppose i’m due for a new one.  at 19 or 20 (consider the line breaks arbitrary):

creed

i believe in ice cream, more specifically tin roof sundae
because frozen fudge swirls are a type of therapy.  i believe in
primitive philosophy, and i believe in advanced, intellectual,
well-read philosphy, too, but that philosophy first
is the necessity, and validation is sometimes nothing
but an embarrassment.  i believe intelligence is hidden beneath
eloquence and communication, and the shallow are unfortunate
in never knowing what they’ve missed.
i believe in talking to, knowing, and loving a single person at a time.
i don’t think i believe in fate but i believe i wish i did.
i believe wishing for fate is a desperate desire to know
things will turn out alright in the end, and that desire
cannot impact belief.  get over it.

i believe getting over people who have since left your life is the
most difficult thing, and that though
“the one who is rejected comes to embody the good,”
it’s not a question of morals.  it’s a question of losses which can’t be helped.
i believe in losses.  i believe i lost my heart to this city.  i believe
i’m not sorry that i didn’t know any better.  (but sometimes i wish:
if only i had cut my losses and left it there.)
i believe in coincidences.  i believe in long-awaited endings
that are really just beginnings.  i believe in consistency
but also in change only because it is inevitable.

i believe in music, unconventional comfort foods, hugs,
and that sometimes all you need is the sound of someone
else’s breathing and the essence of a second heartbeat
to keep you going.  i believe in French romance
because they toast sneezes:
to your desires once, and to your loves in succession.
i believe there is something to my dreams i have never before
allowed a fighting chance.  i may not be able to save the world,
but maybe i should try.