Has a red rose tucked in her hair, just above her ear
Lips stained the color of wine
Gold hoops dangling from her ears
A black blouse falling off her shoulders
A red skirt encasing her valuable assets
Pumps on her feet
Her name caresses the lips of every man
And they can't help but stare as she walks by
A smile graces her face, for she knows the effect she has
She is Carmen after all

We're all mirrors in our fragile states
Enough pressure against us, our surfaces
Cause cracks across our faces
Some have shattered beneath
Shards of us fall to the ground
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who's the most broken among us all?

Your feet crossed the threshold
And you muttered a quick goodbye
After I told you all my secrets
Bared my soul
Revealed my flaws
Removed the makeup that covered my scars
I guess there was something there you didn't like
So you decided to leave once you knew the real me, my true self
And I peeled the door open, my hand on the ****
Showing you the way out
Why would I need you here if you didn't plan on staying?

It may be damaged beyond repair
And have scars that were left by those who were thought to nurture it
It has its cracks and dents
But it's still there
Came close to shattering a few times
Went numb
Almost became nonexistent
But it's still there
I nurture it
I give it medicine, though it may not be effective
I take care of it
As long as it still beats, I'll be fine

Even a man who is the devil while awake, can seem an angel as he sleeps

I can't help but be curious of him
Of wanting to know more of him
Wanting to explore the depths of him
Wanting to know how he does what he does
The mere thought of wanting to know isn't enough to satisfy me
I want more than my thoughts and imagination conjuring up ideas
I want to feel, I want to do
Very curious indeed am I

Pushed past the breaking point
A line that shouldn't be crossed
Passed the point of no return
The final threshold
There's no going back now

There was once a little girl
Called Little Sorrow
There was never a smile that grazed her face
Nor a moment of happiness in her life
She learned to live with the silence
Learned to embrace the solitude
Cried her tears alone until one day she stopped
There wouldn't be a place big enough for holding all the tears she cried
Little Sorrow simply watches with blank eyes and an immobile face
As the world around her passes
Yet she remains still

You talked a good game
And I believed every word you said
Did you really mean any of it?
Or was I just a convenience for you?
A distraction from the chaos you call life?
Funny how your words mean nothing to me now
And neither do you

The multiple monsters of my mind
Each telling me a different thing
Each have a life of their own
The one I call "Heartbreak" says you'll never have love
There's a hole where her heart should be
The one named "Broken" says you'll never be good enough
Pops bitter pills with slits on her wrists
Then, there's the final one
Who I call the "Dark Angel"
Causes the dark swirl of thoughts in my head
She embraces herself with a sinister glint in her eyes
Her smirk full of mischief
All have black eyes
Surrounding the human me

Broken wings
Humming my last song
Trapped in a cage
Abandoned all hope
Of being set free
Free from a prison
A prison I created myself
Never to sprout my wings

Petals drenched in crimson
Delicate to touch
Has its own defense
Stem covered in thorns
***** pale fingers
Draws blood when grasp
Both a beauty and a danger

I felt everything you ever done to me
Cursed me with the words that fell from your mouth
Nursed the bruises left on my skin by your hands
And every time you spread a woman's legs that weren't my own
I felt that too...
And then even when you did feel me when we were supposed to be sharing those intimate moments
You weren't always gentle
I felt everything you ever done to me
Ignored me when I needed you
Even at night, my silent cries could be heard
Yet you turned your back
As I placed my hand over my mouth, choking back my sobs
Everything you ever did to me
You will soon feel
It's your turn to scream in agony
The same way I did for you
But you won't have me
The same way I didn't have you...

Everything burning around me...
Yet I remain untouched

The needle ****** my body
Ink flows from its point
Caressing my skin, creating memories
Could be a reminder
Or a message
The telling of a story
The marking of words and images
Upon my body to cover my scars
And turn them into art

Welcomed with open arms
Numbness coursing through my body
Eyes flutter before succumbing to darkness
One final breath passes my lips
My soul trailing behind it

Caught glimpses of tears leaning on the edge of your eyes
Yet you refuse to let them fall

The eyes say all that needs to be heard
Even when the mouth is silent

That place where only you can take me
That I had forgotten
Fondest of memories arose from those moments
An instant high that causes bodies to quiver
Causes bodies to intertwine covered in dew
Draped in sheets shimmering in the sun
But you awoken that sense of hunger
Unconcealed heat that laid hidden beneath my skin
Waiting to inflame me, to rekindle those sparks
And it all began with that one touch
To remember where I belong

Marks on my body that ache and burn
Shadows that cover my frame
Cause me pain even when I'm laying still
Fade within a few days
Some stay as if they've found a new home
Upon my marred exterior
A crushing within my chest
A harsh graze against my delicate skin
Leaves a bruise
Another part of the collection

We never have full control of our lives
How they play out
What does and doesn't happen
Or how it ends
There's always someone above us pulling the strings

It can be a quickening of my heart as you lean into me
Or when you caress my face, my eyes glaze over
When you hold my cheek in the palm of your hand, I always cover your hand with mine
When you kiss me on my neck, my head leans back
When you kiss my lips, breath sorta just escapes me
Or after we get done worshipping each other, there's always this intense stare you give me I don't know why but it's always there

Bringing me back to life
When I've spent time in darkness
Awakening my dulled senses
Life was no longer clinging to me like a disease
I finally opened my eyes and saw light
Instead of the occasional darkness
You've awakened me

Beautiful ain't always pretty

I no longer see you as the person being the one to dry my tears
Instead you're the one that caused them
All the bruises my heart received
I never thought you would leave your own
If you were to touch me, your touch would no longer feel right
You calling me your friend, instead of your babygirl
Causes nothing but the blade to go in further
Your kisses I remember that use to set me aflame
Only cause me to burn on the inside
I remember the mark you left on me
It was a bruise on my already damaged heart

What lurks between the realm of light and dark
The secrets, the lies, the skeletons that crept from the closet
The shadows that embrace you disguised as a friend
Whispering deceit and hallow promises
Bringing the shadows closer as a source of comfort
Pain is your wake up call in the morning
Hurt is the piece of my reality that invades my sweet dreams
But what if you were the shadows in which  the secrets, lies, and skeletons dwell

Behind the walls are where my secrets lie
Where my thoughts take refuge from being seen
Where my emotions peer from behind the veil in hopes of being displayed upon an immobile face
The walls were built as a sense of security, to keep the outside from coming in
Few, successfully, have knocked down a wall or two, but never all
Because behind the walls is where my true self is concealed
And I refuse her access into the real world
A world where she can never be accepted

The eyes are an unusual creation
One's viewpoint on what is seen and what isn't differentiates
Sometimes, they play tricks on you
Other times, things are seen which shouldn't be
Often, they dance when taking sight of something beautiful
Or are cast downward when in pain
Deep in thought, they stare into space
Fill with tears when experiencing hurt
The eyes conceal the innermost secrets
Said to be the windows to the soul
When people stare into them...
What do you think they see?
Eyes seem to have a world of their own

When you love someone who is damaged
You accept their past, pain, and guilt
You have to be strong and patient
You help the bleeding stop, you kiss over the scars
And they will still be a little broken
You accept all the dents and the cracks that's within them
And eventually they will start to trust you
They will become your ally and best friend
And you are the only person that can make or break them
And they will still be thinking how can someone like you love someone like them
Because they are damaged

Never stop dreaming...
Sometimes dreams are the only thing that a person has

If you called to say you're sorry
You might as well hang up
I've had enough "sorrys" in my life
Why should yours be of any importance?

I waited...and I waited

But I never got that phone call
The one that I have been waiting for all day
Just to hear your voice
To hear the reason why

Why you chose to end us
Why you chose to stop loving me
Why you chose to throw away something of significance

But instead...I get a text

The love I had for you was boundless, limitless
If you needed more, I would have gave it to you
The love I had for you was unconditional
There was nothing average about it, it wasn't lukewarm
But I guess the love you had for me had bounds and its limits
You gave what you thought I might have needed
I guess it wasn't unconditional because when we ended, it was if the love you had for me no longer held value
But the love I had in me I gave to you
And that was my mistake
Giving unconditional love to someone who can only give me conditional
In you, I found a person that I couldn't live without
But I guess to you I was a person you could live with
I wish there was a way for me to turn off emotions, but I can't
But it seems your emotions turn on and off
One day, I'm your everything
The next, I'm just a friend
And you expect me to accept just being your friend
I loved, no I love you too much to be just your friend
And according to you, we can't be together
So let's just be strangers who shared some memories

You said that you would love me for an eternity...but you lied
And now as these tears stain my face...I realize that maybe loving you was a mistake because maybe you never loved me back

He should have been the complement to my heart, not the remedy

Sometimes, the depths of myself are hard for me to even comprehend.
The perceptions of myself reflect within each other.
The image shown is sometimes obscured based on the light...
Or the shadow that casts over it.

You broke me and I fear I can't put myself back together...

People say that I'm not the average black girl...
And I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment
Am I not the average black girl because I am so well-spoken?
The fact that I am able to articulate my words...
Or that if a person misuses a word that I simply correct them?
Am I not the average black girl because I don't wear a weave in my hair with noticeable tracks?
Or that instead of me shaking my *** for the world to see...
I choose to make something of myself without diminishing myself?
Am I not the average black girl because I chose a path different from the other black girls...
The path of the dropouts, and being baby mamas at the age of 16...
What is the average black girl?
To me, there is no such thing as the average black girl...
The word "average" is what society has pegged a black girl as being the norm of what black girls are seen as or are supposed to be.
But me, I'm just a black girl

My face is like my personal snitch.
It betrays me by revealing what I'm feeling.
The crease in my forehead shows worry, in some cases, anger.
My quivering lip shows that I'm about to cry.
My rapidly blinking eyes are tell-tale signs that I'm holding back tears.  
The twitch of my nose shows me being *******.
My scrunched up mouth is me holding back my sharp tongue.
Oh, why face are you such a snitch?

In life, you don't know what cards you're dealt, but make sure you know when to hold and when to fold.

When in the middle of the night, he pulls me closer to his chest as he sleeps, wrapping his arm around my waist.
How I feel butterfly kisses grazing my neck in the early hours of the morning.
Some mornings, I awake to a racket coming from downstairs, and I smile knowingly, smelling coffee.
Or when he wakes up in the morning to get ready, I wake up not long after, and I cuddle more into the sheets, breathing in his cologne.
After we make love, he holds me in his arms, stroking my hair, while kissing my forehead, and I soon drift off to sleep.
But the one moment I love experiencing with him is when we lock eyes with each other and he stares at me as if I'm the only one in the room.

She is able to portray the character she is meant to be on screen and in front of a camera.
She can deliver lines learned from a script or improv.
She can feign different emotions based on the scene she is in.
She can take on the life and personality of her character(s).
However, she can separate who she is in reality from the characters she portrays...
And that is a good actress.

I don't need someone to tell me who I am.
I already know myself enough to tell myself who I am.
I don't need someone to point out my flaws and inadequacies.
They were created by lessons learned.
Nobody can tell me who I am because they're not me.
They haven't walked in my shoes...
Nor have they experienced life the way I live it.
Only one person can tell me who I am---me.

They say that true love doesn't hurt and they are right...it doesn't.
However, an imitation of true love can cause a broken heart.

His words caressed my pages
His ink flowed from his pen
Creating sweet poetry upon my blank canvas

Her soul became broken
And so many times, she tried to fix it
Times when she came close, it would shatter again

She died on the inside

The shards of her shattered soul contained images
Memories that she wished to forget
Why would she want to put the shards back together?
She died, and another person appeared with worse problems and a more broken soul
But this time, add the hurt...the pain...the struggle that came along with her life
Aren't you surprised the new person hasn't broke yet?

She will be broken soon

The cycle repeats itself
How long you think it will take before she is broken and a new person appears?

I'm having a bad day and I don't know what to do
I'm just sitting here, with a frown on my face
Maybe someone will make me laugh and it will liven up my spirits a little
Who knows? I might just have a bad day

These are words I have said
Words I have refused to utter
When people walk in and out of my life
Either by invitation or they waltz in
Over time, a bond forms
I become a part of you, you become a part of me
Then, they have to leave
Either because they have to or they want to
I see you leave through that door
With a piece of my heart trailing behind you
I whisper, "Don't leave"

She was forced onto the bed or pinned to the floor, the environment didn't matter, the outcome was the same
His breath would graze over her neck, he groped mercilessly
Never once did she look into his eyes or made a sound
Never once did he hesitate or stop his assault
Never once did she attempt to stop him, out of fear, out of embarrassment
The tearing of her clothes, his brutal grunts
She never utters a word or makes any movement
Her head would be slightly turned away from the scene, her eyes opened, staring into space or closed, not wanting to watch this unfold
A sharp intake of breath would pass her lips as his assault began
His continuous thrusts felt as if needles were pricking her untouched skin
The agony goes on for seconds, minutes, maybe even hours until he finishes
He tosses her aside, doesn't matter, the outcome is the same
She stays immobile, on some occasions, crying softly
She doesn't know why it happens, it just does
Her body is a fortress he conquered, which now lays collapsed
Her emotions, her thoughts, scrambled
The pain she feels from the assault goes unnoticed
Never utters a word or makes any movement
The reoccurring thought crosses her mind, "Why did this happen? Why did it happen to me?"
He takes one last look and then leaves
She lays there on the bed or the floor, her arms wrapped around herself, cradling her body
Doesn't matter what the environment is, the outcome is always the same
Her innocence is taken and now she has nothing...