They say you are born
Naked, with no identity
No name
And no face
Like any other
You are born, crying
A brand new star
Another unknown amalgamation of all that gives life
A fresh start
But not to everyone

For some of us
Are born closer to the earth
A genetic result of a thousand generations
Manifesting its way into marks on my being
Unseen
Unknown
Unwanted
We have a name for us
By Birth

Wherein we are doomed to the fires of hell
If hell were on Earth
And it is here for us
A simple cage with no bars
The burden of a thousand years
And markings made by routine
Justified by the Great Souls
Deeming it but mere control

And even if I change
Resist and break
They say I was born this way
That my mother's womb has left indelible marks I can never erase
A curse that made me wonder
Should I have been born at all?
To feel as deserving as literal baloney
Never to be touched
Never to be felt
Never to be heard
Never to be seen
Dehumanized to an extent where I cannot even believe any more that the sky is blue
Or that there exists the air around me which I need to breathe, to live
I'm no more than a pollutant
Upon the back of whom this world works
But who never sees the light above
Who was supposed to be filtered away into oblivion
Who was always supposed to be the nonentity
The stubborn stain that will not go away

I can never erase
My name
My identity
Even if I pretend
Or literally rip the skin off my face and wear another
If I achieve anything in this world
I shall be put up on a wall to showcase
The marks my mother's womb left
The marks that I can never erase

For some of us were born to hug the earth
Make it our home and heart
The backbone of this whole wide world
The wombs that faced physical retribution and degradation
Of the cruelest kind possible
To be told you can never be better
Than irrelevant specks of dust
Swept beneath an apologetic herd

For some of us are born closer to the earth
I bear my marks with shame no more
I shall take what was mine
I shall bow no more

Not equal
We are not born equal
I'm born in a naked cage
Open hostilities
A crown of thorns etched into our being
Namelessness is considered a gift

We are not born equal
The weight of expectations
The brunt of brutal suppression
Of our existence
Is incomparable
The pain that we never deserved
Yet is destined for us

Religion defined me
Contained me
Yet changing it
Abandoning it
Does not break my chains
Often I wonder
When people cannot realize
The wholesale selling of humanity

Silver
A crooked back beneath
An epiphany
Of scars and the toil
Of generations
Dancing through the veil
Of destruction

Shiver
A pedestal behind
The curtains of dark embodiments
The tragedy of life
Of generations
Dancing through the veil
Of destruction

Moonlight
The bleeding death of a collapse
Unending
Silent
Misdemeanor finally revealed
Dancing through the veil
Of destruction

little dark girl with
kind eyes
when it comes time to
use the knife
I won't flinch and
i won't blame
you,
as I drive along the shore alone
as the palms wave,
the ugly heavy palms,
as the living does not arrive
as the dead do not leave,
i won't blame you,
instead
i will remember the kisses
our lips raw with love
and how you gave me
everything you had
and how I
offered you what was left of
me,
and I will remember your small room
the feel of you
the light in the window
your records
your books
our morning coffee
our noons our nights
our bodies spilled together
sleeping
the tiny flowing currents
immediate and forever
your leg my leg
your arm my arm
your smile and the warmth
of you
who made me laugh
again.
little dark girl with kind eyes
you have no
knife. the knife is
mine and i won't use it
yet.

The easiest thing
Is to live a lie
Slowly tempting your body and soul to an event horizon which has no escape here
Its the easiest thing
Done by a broken heart
When it is lied to
Always remembering each goodbye and moments of affection piercing through
A list of melancholic ways to die
Staggering your brain
Inviting you to dance and sing
For when you lose home
And when you lose hope
Its easier to live a lie

Saying goodbye
To someone you love
Is like reading the final page
Of an amazing book.

As the last chapter ends
You begin to notice
Just how beautiful
And perfect
The plot always was.  

You appreciate the joy
And even the pain
As you read and thumb
Through every page.

Finally understanding
The moral of the story,
You realize you've reached
The end of this journey.

Although the last sentence  
Is the most difficult to read
Another great book awaits
Once you turn the final page.

Eventually you may stumble
Upon yet another great find.
Or maybe you'll return
To the book you left behind.

You may just discover
Once all is said and done
That this particular book  
Was your favorite story
All along.