When the thought of a simple call
To the bank,
Or the doctor,
Leaves you in tears.

When working up the courage to call
Your best friend you just texted,
Or the pizza place down the road,
Leaves you with acrobatic elephants in your stomach.

When getting up on time
To go to class,
Or your job interview,
Leaves you nauseous.

When you sit there ten minutes later thinking
Why does this happen every time?
Or why can't I be normal?
Leaves you feeling like a failure.

Just say "hello"
Nope, that'll leave you wanting to *****.
Smile to them
Nope, that'll leave you shaking and sweating.
Give a wave
Nope, that'll leave you on the floor rocking back and forth.

At the end of the day
When all you can think about
Is how you were so terrified you couldn't move,
Or that you just want it to end and go away,
But knowing that it'll just keep happening

When all they can say to you is:
Just do it already.
Why do you have to make things so difficult?
Get over it!
Can't you ever act normal?
As you learn to hate yourself just a bit more
Each and every day.
As you slowly fall back
Into a downward spiral of depression.

I had a dream last night
Vision of my life
In a state of deep connection
Yesterday,today,tomorrow as one.

I had a dream last night
A bright pure light
Guiding my way
....
Spreading the warmness of love.

I had a dream last night
Vision of my life
Distorted faces getting pure
With a slit of light touch.

In my dream last night
I was Discovering lucidity
Connected with my inner self
With the goddess of existence
And the pure source of love.

M.T. 2016.

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.

To these words,
I whisk my pen.
Lay my fortune,
and my silence.

To these words,
I give an oath.
Give my sword,
offer my soul.

To these words,
I live day by day.
As they renew,
restore and guide.

To these words,
The blood flows,
a-coursing my veins.
As I leap in hounds.

To these words,
whose tone capture.
Then possess,
in raptures.

To these words,
my lifetime.
My passion,
and obsession.

To these words,
that entwine.
A link to my spirit,
my lifetime trinity.

In between the greying
and the silvering
work and life
the sombre brooding of time
and the lull after the storms
poetry crept upon me
word by word
phrase by phrase
in a metaphor
letters from the heart
filling gaps of loneliness
with welcome solitude

You can live a whole lifetime and still not gain wisdom.
For it is only gained through honing the skill of foresight.
A skill built by experience and knowledge,
empathy and compassion, love and patience.
The learned ability to think ahead.
To weigh and measure the future.
To then to act, with measured steps.
Correcting and re-correcting your path.
Wisdom gained gives one the ability to rise above,
to see over the head of that which would otherwise hinder your path.
One's choice is whether to use this gift for good or otherwise.
If one has honed and sharpened the gift of wisdom,
your steps will be that of one who is whole.
One who is whole cannot be easily broken.
And the radiance of ones wisdom, will touch the world around.
And your gift will help to surpass all doubt.
It will become a light for your path.

*Choose wisely where you tread, think well of your intentions.
Humble steps make a man mighty, use your wisdom wisely.

From the rooftop
I see the houses sleeping in moonlight

(My chance ascent to the roof
for a space to be aloof
begets this poem)

I know this stillness is deceptive

behind the half glow neon panes
or the wooden ones shut tight from light
beyond the dumb walls of white
tears and smiles are flowing
also grunts of despair
moans of flesh upon flesh
stopping at the skin
or going far down to that misty spot
and even far past all them
two hearts holding the flame
of years buried on the bed
a child still in their head
or there but really not there
somewhere too wide to build a bridge

(Thirty minutes past nine
the toy houses in the moonlight shine
in their chambers holding life not seen)

And I atop one such house know
it's time to go down the stairs
to take up the script again
and write and act and write
for the length of night.