Annual Poetry Post

This weekend was the usual poetry workshop at school, and at least a few of you have seemed to enjoy seeing the results in the past.
A general note that these are poems written in about 10-15 minutes each, after a little discussion and suggested themes/starting points.
They are relatively unedited and polished, but I think are pretty good as is.
Note that poem #3 was an assignment to write about a word for something reasonably concrete. I'm sure most of you will simply be disappointed that I didn't choose Beer.

1)
Light Cones

Stretching out before us
like wakes but in reverse,
ripples of potential;
All possible connections --
loves, rivalries, injuries, caresses --
expressed in overlapping ripples of light.

The universe outside forever dark:
unknown and unknowable.
And yet we find our comfort in knowing that
standing together in this moment,
our futures will always be entwined;
however far apart we stray,
we will remain in reach,
illuminated by each others light.

2)
Within each of us
there is some quality
that defines us for
those who love us.
Some warmth, some spirit,
some humor, some courage,
a way of looking at the world,
a way of helping others.

None of us can see it.
We're too close to it.
It might as well be written on
the backs of our own heads.
Even if somebody tells us what they see in us,
we all refuse to believe it, at first.
"I'm not that warm. I'm not that courageous.
If I see things differently, its probably just
that I don't understand them very well"

But the only way we can ripen,
become who we were always meant to be,
is to be loved for those things we cannot see in ourselves.
We cannot do it alone.
We can simply go and tell the people
that we love what we see in them,
and listen in our turn.

3)

Chocolate.
The word begins sharply,
with the chewy CHOC of
a kid biting into a candy bar,
all appetite and youthful impatience,
gobbling it down -- choc-choc-CHOMP!
The child's view of chocolate:
sweet and uncomplicated.

Chocolate.
The word derived from the Aztecs,
who drank it hot and bitter,
mixed with spicy peppers,
earthy and intense,
the jungle concentrated into liquid form.
Now grown, we savor the
dark history and foreignness
of the word. Letting it melt and
slide down our throats,
knowing that all of life's pleasures
come with a little bitterness.