I'm done getting faded
My dream's vindicated
Your eyes don't have to waste time on me

My words keep on falling
My mouth hits a wall and
My pupil pin point prevents
Me to see

I just can't stand for this **** again
Walking on water
With weights on weak knees
Without the dope sick
Dream trip
I can feel the breeze
Right beneath my cheeks
Where the wind used to blow
Too high to know
The difference between
Free and
Let be

I'm done getting faded
Fake friends getting wasted
More time to find how I can please
The mind that's been on a grind
To forget memories

I’ve tattooed a line across
the veins of my wrist
and marked a down stroke
for every time
“you can’t wear red lipstick”
made me believe
I never wanted to in the first place.

for every time instead
I’ve stained my lips with cherries
learning how to tie the stems
so I can slip forget-me-knots
to the back of your throat—
do you feel my restriction now?

the razors that fly off my tongue
perk thorns on my skin,
another down stroke on my wrist
will teach me that
you were right,
shyness is a virtue.

no need to speak,
go spend one hundred dollars
and some percent for tax
to cover up,
even though I’m sure your mother told you
that cotton stains.

so make it black.
get your hair stuck
in the zipper of that sundress
and pray as you pull it out
that it will lose its pigmentation
in the process
mark a down stroke
for killing two flowers
for one bouquet.

hold it
close your eyes and throw it back,
I know we shouldn’t be wearing white anyway
but tradition can take a lot out of you
like what you really think—
don’t say **** in public.

instead drag your first impressions
all the way to the altar
and dress in your Sunday best
a flower on your lapel
clear on your lips
a stroke for the neat decline
of the son

I tattooed a line across
the veins of my wrist
and marked a down stroke
for every time
my image
was my fault.

I am a child of the earth.
I am strong and durable like the soil that gives life to beauty.
I am the beauty of a flower blossoming among the weeds.
I was taught to fight through pain not succumb to it,
I was taught to stand tall like the trees that allow life to survive.
I am the air that gives freedom to winged things.
I am everything.
We are all everything.
If someone ever tries to make you think differently take lessons from the sky:
Shine as bright as you can while you can because like the sun your light will eventually die,
Don’t let pain or holes in your heart diminish your power,
Be like the o-zone layer, continue to protect what’s important to you.
The most important thing to remember is to never change who you are for the benefit of another.
Be like the weeds who continue to grow even when they are shunned and told that they are useless.
Be like the birds soaring high over the heads of their enemies.
Be like the ground that supports the people who tread upon it but never appreciate it.
Realize that you don’t need the appreciation of anyone but you.
Be like a hurricane destroying whatever tries to stop you from getting to wherever it is you want to be.
Be like whoever you want to be.
Be like you.
Be a child of the earth.

Paintbrushes and bulldozers
Canvas and land
Creativity and destruction
Each done with mans' hand