My Country Tis of Thee,
Sweet land of liberty-
Or so we sing.
Land where my fathers died-
But my forefathers died in a battle
Trying to keep their slaves;
My fathers killed your fathers
For trying to run away;
My fathers **** your fathers
Cause it's late at night, and
He's reaching for his gun-no, wait,
His ID?
Land of the pilgrim's pride-
But so often we leave out of history
How if it weren't for a Native American,
The pilgrims would've died.
From every mountainside-
Like Stone Mountain in Georgia,
Where Rebel Generals are memorialized,
Where the **** was revived-
God, help me, I can't hear freedom's ring;
I can only hear white-washed history.
From every mountainside-
But these days, the mountain is in my chest,
And liberty's ring sounds a lot different,
And a lot of folks don't like it.
Let freedom ring-
And I want to fight for freedom for all-
#BlackLivesMatter-
I want to help-
HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT!
But-
I
Can't
Breathe.
Let freedom ring!-
But peaceful protests turn into
Bloodbaths as those who have sworn
To serve and protect are sniped down.
Let freedom ring!-
I try to educate myself
On the side of history not taught-
I've always felt that Nat Turner was the bad guy,
But these days I'm questioning it.
I read "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the *****
by Frederick Douglass
And I read "Bury Me in a Free Land"
by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
and I read "Sympathy"
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
and I read "Letters from Birmingham Jail",
"The Mountaintop Speech", and
"I Have a Dream"
by Dr. King.
When I was younger,
I'd research Dr. King & his colleagues
For fun.
I'd wonder, "If I lived in the Civil Rights era,
What would I have done?"
But when I turned seventeen,
I realized, "I live in a Civil Rights era;
What am I going to do?
Jul 11, 2016
Jul 11, 2016 at 5:28 PM UTC
The greatest artists
Are born in heartache; not in
Times of happiness.
Jul 2, 2015
Jul 2, 2015 at 12:22 AM UTC
I hope they find me
Surrounded by poems that
Are yet unfinished.
Feb 11, 2015
Feb 11, 2015 at 9:08 AM UTC
Hemingway said,
"Write hard and clear about what hurts."
And I'm hurting.
And it's muddled.
And it's clear all at once.
But I know this:
It hurts hard.
When part of your heart
Up and leaves-
Even when you know that it's coming-
It hurts like part of your heart was up
And cut out.
It hurts like when you get home
And you run in-
And no one's there to greet you.
It hurts like when you sit at home-
And the piano keys are dusty.
It hurts and it's deafening
And deadening-
And the silence is overwhelming.
It hurts like a coffee *** that doesn't get empty,
And a grocery bill that goes down.
It hurts like unworn shoes in a closet
And it hurts like unwashed sheets
On an unused bed.
It hurts like borrowing his clothes
And reading his books
And writing him letters.
It hurts hard
And clear
And muddled
All at once.
It hurts like goodbye.
Jan 13, 2015
Jan 13, 2015 at 8:57 PM UTC
A hard place to be
Different; and an easy
Place to become hurt.
Oct 21, 2014
Oct 21, 2014 at 7:15 PM UTC
I remember bumping into you
At the grocery store,
Looking at produce.
And I was looking at pears
And you were looking at apples.
You called "Hey!"
And I suddenly wished
I had worn make-up that day.
But I couldn't ignore you,
So I said "Hi"
While butterflies in my stomach
Shone through my eyes.
We made small talk,
Talked about the weather,
My family,
Yours.
Then the conversation turned to apples,
And you asked my opinion.
I've never been good at short answers-
This time was no exception.
"Well,"
I said,
"I think apples can be a metaphor
For humans.
Some people are sweet
But if they go too long without love,
They turn rotten.
Others are sour
But that's what makes them
Sweet.
Some are loved as soon as they come in,
And others get passed around
And never picked,
Dropped and bruised,
And they are thrown away
Before they can go bad."
You nodded and listened,
Obviously paying thought.
"Do you have any others ideas on the merits
Of apples?"
I started to blush,
I wanted to bite my tongue,
But for some reason,
I offered,
"Only that I've heard-
I don't know if it's even true-
That in Ancient Greece
Throwing an apple at a woman
Was considered a marriage proposal."
You raised your eyebrows,
Chuckled,
And picked up an apple,
Looking at it in your hand,
"Catch!"
Sep 11, 2014
Sep 11, 2014 at 11:41 AM UTC
I shall not fear the
Dark, for the brightest of lights
Shines within my heart
Aug 12, 2014
Aug 12, 2014 at 3:30 PM UTC
The walk of life is hard,
And sometimes we skip
And sometimes we dance
And sometimes we stumble
And sometimes we fall.
People always tell us
That it could be worse
Or it could be harder,
But honestly,
Sometimes you just don't care.
And sometimes it seems deeper
When you think of how sadness
Makes you appreciate happiness.
But sometimes life is hard,
And you just wonder
How it could ever be happy again.
And sometimes you're happy,
But you're scared,
Because it could be taken
Away.
But life is tears,
And sighs,
And songs,
And laughter.
Life is sadness,
And sorrow,
And joy,
And happiness.
Because a baby's first footsteps
Are always followed
By a baby's first fall.
Flowers only come
After rain clouds,
And bright light,
And breaking through a shell.
Life is sweeter
After storms,
And bright times,
And breaking through your shell.
Jul 15, 2014
Jul 15, 2014 at 10:06 AM UTC
One day I'll see the world,
Have dust on my feet
From a thousand different lands.
I'll travel with dusty feet,
Musty books,
Camera in hand,
Adventure beckoning me on.
Maybe I'll have no home,
I'll be a wanderer-
Maybe we need more gypsies-
Maybe I'll have
Barely a penny to my name.
I'll spend it all on plane tickets,
I'll earn my roof and food
By telling stories,
Penning poems.
Maybe when I'm an old lady,
People will tell stories
Of the crazy girl
Who came from a town so small
She had to travel the world
To find out more
About who she was.
Maybe people will be talking
Before I've even left,
About the crazy girl
With crazy dreams
Who's going to do crazy things
And change a crazy world.
But being called crazy
Is a small price to pay
To do things no one's done.
It just means I realize
The stars aren't so far away
If you know how to believe.
It just means
I'll have stardust
On my feet
From a thousand different suns.
Apr 28, 2014
Apr 28, 2014 at 1:02 PM UTC