Come with me child, I'm gonna pull at your heartstrings,
it will amuse me greatly, destroying petty things,
look at how your blood flows, such a beautiful red,
now, my dear child, get right back into bed.

Run, run, my darling,
run, run, away from me,
hide, hide, my sweet,
hide, hide, from dear old me.

You can't escape now, precious, time is drawing nigh,
all can tell from the looming, raining sky,
you've got nowhere to go now, so sit right down,
quit wasting time trying to turn things around.

Hush, hush, my darling,
hush, hush, through the night,
stay still, my sweet,
the ropes will hold you tight.

What do you think you're doing, girl, everything is fine,
don't worry your little head, dearest child of mine,
there's nothing you can do with demons in the house,
so you'd best keep quiet, docile like a mouse.

Shut up, my darling,
shut up, my sweet,
there's no ray of hope now;
You belong to me.

how lonely sits
the city says
lamentations

guess this mouse has what you americans call post traumatic
stress disorder,
think of it more like
a path for the
eyes.

one where eyes are finally forced away
from the works of hands
by the knock knock
knocking on
heaven's door,
everybody's saying,
hodi hapa? something's
wrong if no one's answering; tonight.

my neighbor whose
name is eej (for
real) came to
the hut with
his friend.

i said do you
have siblings
he said
i did

oh

said i

you are living
my worst nightmare
one thing about an african

childhood, they say fatalism, you say you
would think about death too
and who knows

what you'd
look
like

tonight by the bagel van i said bunkle
i gotta problem
what's your problem said he
well i think i'm not wearing enough colors
no said he you're missing a bright splash in the orange red family

who knows what we all look like
inside the infinite space
of our souls

wonder if
blue means purity or
green means beauty
or red means strength
or love
or love

well
we all look
pretty much
the same asleep

hatred doesn't look
different in one
eye or another

but why does
it have to
be in the
eyes of
anyone

this mouse has
been asking
since
child
hood

why
why
why.

the cruelty

but
yet
still
and
for
ever

(you always did care for me yeah
you always did share with me yeah)

you always make me laugh, still

the book of jonah makes me
think of sea legs
and just everything,
you know all
the palm trees
huts, nonvoices
of our lives

the blessings rain down
an ocean sunsetting
on an Ocean sky.

siblings

be strong the
good kind of
dangerous

is
the



fire

It is the same thing that we are told over and over
In all our classes, all our days
For one hundred and eighty days on end.

In math we are told about the Pythagorean theorem and Pathetic Fallacy~~
But some of us still do not know the value of "X".

It is after parents get called from teachers saying that their child is:
hyperactive
easily distracted
unfocused
doesn't do the proper thing
And that their child, who is brilliant, cannot be in a Level One class.

We all have different abilities and thought processes.
Why is it that a class full of individuals is tested by all of the same means?

Exams are the way society tells you your worth.

But it is the same society that:
says abortion is wrong but then looks down on teenage parents
promotes natural beauty but has models flushed with makeup, hair extentions, false lashes, and nails
shows slender people for their weight loss commercial that look like an hour glass already
has pastors that preach charity but own jets and sports cars
has Imams who preach against greed but are all fat
has parents who want their child to get a good education to get a good paying job but hate how rich the neighbors are
is run by governments that preach peace but endorse war
Has colleges who want smarter kids but increase the tuition

What does it mean to "make the mark?"

to the kids who study hard and barely miss the target
to the kids that know what it feels like to be worth that D or that A when a teacher hands back a test
to the kids who are never good enough in their English teacher's eyes
to the kids whose writing is missing key literary techniques or was too informal to be understood

What does it mean to "make the mark?"

to the math teacher who pesters you about trying harder when you can't tell them "X" but can tell them the date of any war
to the science teacher who tells you to know the periodic table and yells in distress of their 'worst student'

We're told everything that we learn we'll use the information again but never do when we walk out the door.

They try to prepaid you for the world, but they don't prepair you for life.

always being the second best
not getting the scholarship that you needed to go to college
not getting the solo on your last concert night.

not being able to make the mark

What does it mean to "make the mark?"

There is sweat on my brow
Blood under my finger nails
And nothing can quench my thirst
Like the blood that runs in rivers through your body
I can smell your heart beating
Come closer
If you dare

Closed windows, pretty flowers,
Beeping machines, no loose threads.
TVs running, nurses waiting,
Painted rooms, well-made beds.

The atmosphere is clean and open,
Yet stuffy and enclosed.
And the nurses here are smiling
While patients grasp their crosses close.

The temporary homes are painted
With animals and desert view.
Anxiously waiting to see if the
Person will go soon.

The hallways: long and deafening.
The rooms: screaming with fear.
The walls are closed in, watching firmly,
For miracles also happen here.

A child sees his first glimpse of the world;
A cancer survivor leaves happily after the fight;
A lucky person lies relieved after surgery;
A suffering man closes his eyes.

-

Artificial home-like furniture, hands sanitized.
A life is lost and tears appear from words they wish they'd said.
Luck or blessing, yours to name, and flower scent in the air.

But once a body leaves or fails to give away a breath,
Nothing is changed.
The life that lay upon the mattress now ceases to exist,
And the chamber stays a chamber;
For all they are are painted, lurking, killing, curing rooms
And tucked-in-well-made beds.

Isn't it weird how life goes on while others don't?
In the brink of devastation
while rummaging through clothes
while the child plays
and your mind in snow
the child can see the sun
but you don't.

Isn't it weird how life goes on while others don't?
In the brink of devastation
while rummaging through clothes
while the child plays
and your mind in snow
the child can see the sun
but you don't.

Isn't it weird how life goes on while others don't?
In the brink of devastation
while rummaging through clothes
while the child plays
and your mind in snow
the child can see the sun
but you don't.

Isn't it weird how life goes on while others don't?
In the brink of devastation
while rummaging through clothes
while the child plays
and your mind in snow
the child can see the sun
but you don't.

Isn't it weird how life goes on while others don't?
In the brink of devastation
while rummaging through clothes
while the child plays
and your mind in snow
the child can see the sun
but you don't.