I refuse to allow anyone to make me hate,
Anyone to make me bitter,
Anyone to make me discriminate
against a sister or a brother race.

I refuse to allow any man to change
my opinions about myself,
about love, or about anyone else.

I refuse to allow any woman or man
to ruin my day, to claim my smile,
to declare my day of happiness has run its race,
has run its mile, is now over and done with.

I do not desire to be lusted after by another human.
I do not crave the attention of any man
who has yet to see me, yet to meet me,
yet to love me in the delicate and comical way that I deserve.

I do not itch to be touched.

The only hunger that I have is to find love
and to find it in its purest form,
And I refuse to settle for less than what’s best for me,
for that is something that only I know,
but something that others may see.

I refuse to settle for less.

All of the thoughts of midnight crowd my mind at night.
How can I possibly smile when you are happily gone--
Miserably present in my own mind, but faithfully out of sight,
Just me and these midnight memories at night.

I reminisce about your warmth that once held my love for you in place,
The warmth that sparked the fire that once burned so bright,
And the warmth of your skin while I caressed your sweet face
In the heated dark of the midnight memories that night.

But soon all of these midnight memories will fade
Into the cold loneliness scattered with undeserving rage.
Sweet nostalgia will envelope the bitter words of unrequited love's page,
And I'll soon realize that the times we shared and the love we made
Have slowly disappeared into the night.

I will no longer have these midnight memories,
And it will be just me, myself, and I..
Trying to gather new memories at midnight tonight.

Silent cries darken even the brightest places of her soul
As they broach the subject of her faults:
Irresponsible, unempowered, unworthy, insignificant.
Irresponsible in the face of problems,
Unempowered to the point of deafening silence,
Unworthy of anyone's blessings and everyone's love,
And insignificant enough not to have any worth in the world.

She was a simple, scary mistake,
One that could never be erased,
But she's here now,
And she's been here for quite some time.
Now everyone wonders:
How much longer will she last?