I want to write
a poem - the most
remarkable poem
I've ever written.

The one that blows up
mountains into pebbles
I can pick up and throw.

The one I can fan
from spark to inferno,
burning through
useless to pointful.

If I write this poem,
keep it out on my wall
I will be reminded
that the only way to
get my power back
is to take it.

I just wrote
a remarkable poem.

Stand Up for Equality

Guess what?
You can be white
and hungry and
underprivileged.

You can be African American, Mexican, Asian, Indian... and on and on and
be hungry and underprivileged.

We are all in this place.
We are all human
and struggling
and wanting so much more.

So let's do it.
Let's break down these walls-no, we won't build them.

Let us break down these walls and embrace our humanity and our inherent love for one another.

Let's just give each other a helping hand for once.
Let's all just stand up
for each other.

Let us just stand up
for love
and kindness.
Let us
stand up.

circles
chasing
circles
chase
triangles
chasing
squares
chase
lon­g
black
lines
that
when
stood
up
become
high
black
walls.

Spending a month in a hospital teaches you a lot about people.
The doctor that told me to shave my head or she wouldn't treat me,
The nurses that spent forever chatting to me
And giving me supportive advice about how my illness doesn't define me.
The woman who was given a terminal cancer sentence
And chose not to pay attention to it and defied it anyway.
How she sat next to me on my bed,
Told me that all suffering is valid,
And just because I'm not dying, doesn't mean I don't get to complain.
How she complains more about her skin problems
Than she ever complained about her cancer,
And that's OK, because pain rarely follows rules.
I never even learned her name,
But she gave me the words I hold most closely to me
On those days when I want to fall asleep and never wake up.
I'm allowed to scream and shout and rage against the pain
And the unfairness of it happening to me.
I just have to make sure I know where the line is
Between giving my darkness a voice and pitying myself.