i left your wine glass
on my bedside table

for seven days
it settled in the very place
that your hands had aimlessly
chosen

staining a ring around a mostly empty bodice.

mostly empty?
barely full?

you see, for me,
the wine glass was
my way of having you
stay as long as I wanted.

I saw your delicate
fingerprints stamped upon
the stem and body

just as they were on mine, under a tin roof
amidst a blanket of summer rain.

                                 ......

i washed the glass tonight

as you boarded the plane to the rest of your life.

i wonder if you'll think of me as you sip on your complimentary glass.

rouge ou blanc, mon amour?
rouge comme mon amour?
ou blanc comme mon remise?

-Anna Blake

The sun rises,
With the dust.
Which blows across old acres,
Of desert sand.
Sending tumble weeds,
Straight to the oasis ponds.

It's a fragile thing,
This life.
Out here you live by the rules,
Of the man aiming a gun at your head.
It's real rough,
That's for certain.
It'll leave city spirits hurting,
But I'd rather live for the high noon,
Than some old mayor's law.

Look at her she don't fit
What is she wearing?
Look at that shirt
**** girl, where you shop? Wherever it is you need to stop
If people knew or took the time to ask
I would say my mothers about to pass
You think you need that tag on your shirt?
Make sure its exposed
Whats wrong with wearing a shirt and saying this is my mothers?
She wore it to chemo to keep her warm
I would rather wear my mothers because its covered in love


Why does a young girl feel she don't belong?
Getting bullied because others think she looks like a boy
While she walks home she hears loud  whispers  *****, ****
As she looks in the mirror she, feels she has a contagious disease
The hurt don't leave when school is over
In fact it continues all over

There was a girl with black skin and ***** hair
Her dad was a lawyer for a secure firm
But she is black, remember
She tries to erase her color
Hides her eyes, so nobody can see what's inside
Although she is brilliant
But won't speak in class
I ask why?

There a little girl with freckles, and green eyes
Hair beautiful, and crimson that her daddy would brush her hair
As she looks at herself in such a different way
Trying to pick all the freckles away
Now there are visible scars that visit everyday
All because of what one person had to say

I invite you to penetrate your mind
We become passive, sit back with time
Hoping that prejudices go away
That schools send your children home with eternal bruises on their soul
Budgets are made that doesn't help
Children need a confidant
Kids killing kids, I ask why?
They feel so angry and resentful
Words and actions that should of never be applied
We  need to educate our youth
Give them hope, teach them empathy, and pride
The ones that have Autism, mental illness and such, don't leave them by the wayside
Don't sort people by the color of their skin
God cradled all of us, defined and created all of us
So tell me why we can't see eye to eye
I invite you into the beauty in your heart

Cutting benefits for the veterans
Have they not done there time?
They can't rewind history, or bring back fallen friends
As a grandfather tells his story
With tears behind his eyes handing down his purple heart to his grandson
Who to is going into the military
21 guns, and Folded flags I ask why?

Flash cards
Headaches
Studying for hours
Trying so hard
Just to be heard

Trying to make friends
Trying to be social
So difficult when your not normal
The things you have to tell yourself
To keep yourself together
"It's okay
Your okay
Everything's okay"
All lies

Concerned looks from your mother
As you say that yes, today was the same
You can tell she's trying not to cry
Guilty

Procrastination
Lack of motivation
Working so hard for this presentation
And for everything else
Even when it all gets deleted in my head immediately after

The crowded hallways
You can barely squeeze your way through
They're so loud
And full of people
Most yelling
Some banging on lockers
Jammed
Like my head

Painted spirals on the wall
Not as real as mine

You call me a *****, a ****
You hurl insults like stones
That beat my spirit ******
Black hatred pools at my feet
Thick, Choking, Threatening
To drag me down into itself

Your fear cuts into my soul
Leaving a thousand wounds
A thousand times a day
I taste the blood of an innocent
Who is not so innocent anymore

How many of us will you burn
On the altar of self-righteous loathing
Salem reborn, Even the closet
Is no longer safe