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 Apr 2016 Ariel Baptista
John
ive dodged bullets bigger than my head
fired by guns in the hands of the lost & lonely
by all rights i should surely be splattered, dead
the gray matter lodging in my skull is my one & only
my neuro-circuits are a circus blaring classic jazz
emanating from my ears and causing a regular razzmatazz

my heart, i know it beats only for a limited time
like an infomercial, superficial in the way it teases me
but my head, it knows the differences between reason & rhyme
money equals madness and the line between land & sea
at the same time, i feel it disintegrating as it sits worriless
and I ask myself, "could you really care less?"

but when the day comes when my heart & head agree
i know it will be near the end and i'm okay with that
no longer will i scurry like a hungry squirrel, endlessly
i will not walk around with the curiosity of a newborn cat
looking for my head, examining this hypothetical ****** mystery
for it won't be dead like my heart will claim it to be
So you pass it every day now,
  that book just lying there.
You know that you should read it;
  such riches there to share!

It's not just decoration,
  all covered up in dust.
If you'll read a couple pages,
  then in God just place your trust!

He will open up your eyes now
  if you'll only scriptures read;
He will change your life forever,
  yes, He'll fill you full indeed!

You can read 'bout any passage
  that My Heavenly Father spoke,
And find something so important
  that will give your heart a poke!

There is so much in those Scriptures
  that will help you grow always.
It's a book that every Christian
  should read near every day!

You can talk to God My Father
  as you go to Him in prayer;
Then His answers He has written
  in Those Scriptures lying there!

So when you see it on that table
  as your walking out the door,
Pick it up and read it's pages
  and He'll bless you ten times more!
When my mind forgets to speak,
I end up losing what I knew
but when my heart forgets to speak
*I end up losing you.
3:10 am and restless
The worst thing,
most insidious thing
about trauma
is that
it doesn’t matter what anyone does,
in the end,
everything is,
(must be, has to be)
your fault.

Trauma is
a voice:
you should have known,
you should have done more,
you should have stood up for yourself,
what is wrong with you,
do you want to be miserable,
why did you trust,
don’t you ever learn?


Trauma is
you watching you
watching what you do,
watching what you don’t do,
watching it all go by.

Trauma is
a voice:
do something
do something
do something.


Trauma is
screaming at a pre-taped football game,
expecting a different outcome.

Trauma is
begging the fictional character to not open the door
when there is clearly a killer waiting.

Trauma is
the hole you keep finding yourself in,
whether or not you see it,
maybe you fall in,
maybe you dive in,
it doesn’t make a difference.

Trauma is
painful -
repeated openings of the same wounds,
hitting a bruise again, again, again,
watching the colors change -
but mostly,
it’s an embarrassment.

Trauma is
a voice:
This is fine.
You can’t tell.
This is fine.
You can’t tell.
This is fine.
You can’t tell.


Trauma is
your best kept secret.

Trauma is
the kind of ****** up
that can’t be named,
can’t be explained.

Trauma is
the kind of ****** up
that is too deep to be fixed.

Trauma is
who you are.
They called her an attention ***** for the last time
As she put the gun to her stomach and pulled the trigger.

The fat girl
The bipolar girl
The depressed girl
The nymphomaniac
The airhead blonde
The discarded cheerleader
The broken hearted

The girl who cuts
The girl who cries
The girl who has a eating disorder
The girl who can't help herself
The girl who is always alone
The girl who gets yelled at
The girl who always gets *****

She just wanted love
But this is all she has

She has a cheating boyfriend
She has a horrible father
She has an abusive mother
She has a shattered heart
She has a numb mind
She has a lost hope
She has a sharp knife
She has a loaded gun

I'm sure they just wanted attention. I'm sure they were perfectly fine.
I'm sure they didn't need the helping hand. I'm sure they're just overreacting.

I'm sure she's dead. I'm sure you don't really care.
//On friendship and compassion//
My tribute to all the "attention ******" out there that people hate.
Sorry to interrupt this program.

The print version of my new book, The Biology of Strangeness,is available today from Createspace and should be on Amazon in three days. Even if you aren't a poetry person, some of this will make you laugh. Currently available as an e-book on Amazon. Just search my name. Read for free if you have Amazon Prime. Don't forget to review. Please.

Now back to regularly scheduled poetry program.

Thanks.  Mike
Whisper her name.
Let the word flow through me.
Now say it again.
It fosters a melody so sweet and proud.
I’m overcome by gentle dreams.

“Veronica”

Voices inside me come and go.
They cry out for time and space.
And a chance to make things right,
But I’m afraid to see her again.
I don’t want to fail.
Not again.

“Empty your mind.”
“Don’t hide from what is honest.”

I’m suffocating in suspense.
What am I in her eyes now?
Dare I ask?
An answer delivers my destiny.
Ecstasy if yes.
Exile if no.

The Rubicon stands before me.
 Apr 2016 Ariel Baptista
Grimmest
(T)ormented
(R)estricted
(A)lone
(P)erplexed
(P)rison
(E)xhausted­
(D)issociated

Freedom from the mind has a price.
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