Now that finals week is over, we can finally sit down and breathe...for a split second before we need to get up and work for the summer. Here are some inspirational poems to brighten up your day, because I know even on the best of days we can all use some inspiration.

1. The Hands Upon You

"Small people only want one thing from you:

Someone else to be as small as they are.

Stay big."

-Iain Thomas

2. The Time

"Times will be tough like old leather and gravel roads occasionally,

Times will be easy, like Sunday morning, every now and then.

What you do during these times will define you as a person and a human being. Your humanity towards others, your will to make the world a better place for you and those around you and your identity as a citizen of the world. All of these things count."

-Iain Thomas

3. The Horrible Thing That Happens

“If you’re lucky the horrible thing that happens gives you some distance from the world and it lets you to look at it in a way no one else does.

If you’re lucky, the horrible thing that happens makes you move closer to everyone around you because you understand how bad the horrible thing can be, and you know there’s a change someone else might have felt something as horrible as you have.

So you are not careless with others.

You try and make sure the horrible thing doesn’t happen to them.

Because you’re the lucky one.”

-Iain Thomas

4. The Burst

“Live like nature. Explode slowly, day by day, from the center outwards. You won’t notice how brightly you burn or how big you’ve grown until you look back. And then you will be amazed.”

-Iain Thomas

5. The Best Way To Run Into Traffic

“It does not count if you believe in yourself when its easy to believe in yourself. It does not count if you believe the world can be a better place when the future looks bright. It does not count if you think you’re going to make it when the finish line is right in front of you.

It counts when it’s hard to believe in yourself, when it looks like the world’s going to end and you’ve still got a long way to go.

That’s when it counts. That’s when it matters the most.”

-Iain Thomas

6. The Trees That Decided Not To Die

“As I put down my pen, I know someone, somewhere is picking up theirs.

I know that someone, somewhere is playing a guitar for the first time.

I know that someone, somewhere is dipping a paintbrush and marking a field of white.

I know that someone, somewhere is singing a song that’s never been sung.

Perhaps someone, somewhere will create something so beautiful and moving, it will change the world.

Perhaps that somewhere is here.

Perhaps that someone is you.”

-Iain Thomas

7. The Briefest Respite

“If all you do is make something beautiful for someone else, even if it’s only for a moment, with a single word or small action, you have done a great service.

Because life can be ugly and frustrating and for so many, it is.”

-Iain Thomas

8. The Winter Child

“In bright white snow, when everything sleeps.

And hope has left you lonely.

When all you ever remember about summer is how it ended.

I send hope back to you, wherever you are.

I hope you remember all the people you still have time to be.

I hope the little things in your life inspire you to do big things with it.

I hope you remember that summer comes every year and that the sun, is still sweet.

I hope you learn to hope again.

I, still, hope.”

-Iain Thomas

9. The Solitary Figure

“You are defined by the way in which you treat the people you love. And, the people you hate.”

-Iain Thomas

10. Be Soft

"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.

Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.”

-Iain Thomas

11. The Hidden Clocks

"Don’t stop searching.

There is no comfort in giving up.

There are large parts of you that don’t exist yet.

The greatest you you could be, is still waiting to be found.

Get up and look."

-Iain Thomas