and so that was it
we carried on like
spring turned to summer
and we fell
like autumn leaves
and winter snow

cold and bitter
our hearts were
but warm and sweet
our souls

the walls were never
opened up
blown away
like ash and dust
the tiny house
on the hill
with a fence
surrounding
forbidden entry
with a sign that said
‘always welcome’

too tired
couldn't sleep
laying awake
too long
saw the sun come up
it wouldn't last
for you

cold we looked
but warm we felt
your fire
melted the war inside
armour fell through
caved in
like a house of cards
enclosing the life
that once was

and slowly but surely
we fell
like autumn leaves
and winter snow
we changed
the way spring's rain
grew summer's flowers
and that was it
so we carried on

how many lives
do we have to lose
in order to realize
that something's wrong?
how many laws of novelty
do we have to pass
in order to realize
we're passing all the wrong ones?

why do we pride the ******
because he goes to a school
with a good name?
and why do we limit his sentence
because HE may suffer “severe impact”
when the one who suffered severe impact
was the one
who cried out for HER LIFE?

who gave you the right
to harm faultless people
over something as simple
as who they love?

america did.
your country allows people
to walk around with guns
they way you do with phones.
how are you supposed to feel safe
when privileged white males
take a “get out of jail free” card
as a prize for destroying the lives
of others?

if you are the country of the free,
why are people dying for loving,
shot for standing up, and
beaten for being themselves?

why are your opportunities
determined by the shade of your skin?
why are you labelled and killed
for practicing your religion?
why is history repeating itself?

nobody is born evil.
evil is the craft that is learned
by unwelcoming minds
and is operated by faulty hands,
clenching throats and triggers
with equal strength.

how many lives do we have to lose
before we realize
enough is enough?
how many people need to be
denied an opportunity
before we realize
race doesn't matter?
how many unmarked gravestones
need to be planted
before we realize
we will never get to finish
fighting a losing battle?

for somebody
i think about a lot,
i write about you
very little
and i think it's because
you're safer in these four walls
than on the frail fibres of paper.

you are the feeling i get
when i wake up
and it's sunny.
you are the smile on my face
as a memory takes over my mind.
you are the flower
that everybody trampled on,
but still grew.

i can't choose the right words
because i can't describe
how small you are
in a world as big as this one,
yet you mean all this to me.
you give so much
and take so little.
i am scared there will be
nothing left.

you're safer in my mind
and i know nothing can harm you.
i write about you very little,
but i think about you a lot.
that is not to say that the pages
are empty;
they are full of life,
sprawling with memories
and margin poems,
titled—
for somebody.