because all I see is IGNORANCE
minds that are satisfied
with being uniformed
where has the world gone
where is the CURIOSITY
where are the children
pledging to make the world a better place
because all I see
are PRETENTIOUS photographs
and empty thoughts
where are the questions
why is it acceptable to know nothing
society
i hate the thought of
a culture
a culture that is OBSCENE
a society that should be
ASHAMED of its wrongdoings
a society that should present
WORLD HUNGER as an actual problem
a society that should take ACTION
rather than sit by
as if people aren't dying as the minutes pass
and every grain in the hourglass
represents a STORY
stories that aren't told
all because society
is too IGNORANT
to care

you made it a point to speak my name
to utter the 4 syllables
you were thinking of me
in your drunken state
flattery is all i feel
because to know that your unfiltered thoughts are inclusive of me
is to know that i am not alone
and that i mean something
so thank you
for sipping so much
that your mind couldn't function
it was functioning all along

Thousands of miles away
Human beings are being gassed to death
And photographs of mourning families
Are published by the hour
And even though
The world acknowledges Syria's current condition
Very few have seen the pictures
Blood and tears and unfathomable terror
Ignorance at its finest
America at its finest
Why cant we be a nation of proactivity rather than reactivity
Why does it take so much
For people to realize
That genocide is occurring
And that lives are being torn apart
As we sit calmly at our dinner tables
Abundant with pea soup
And roasted chicken
And lack of caring

This world seems to cruel
For there to be a god

I don't believe anything
That the old testament has to say

The words that once led me in life
Are nothing but rhetoric

Because religion is ambiguous
And everything it has to offer is twisted

My religion is the feeling of success
It's the music that never escapes my mind

It's Bob Dylan's songs
Allen Ginsberg's poems

My religion is your touch
The friends by my side

I refuse to have religion imposed on me
I will not have my first amendment rights infringed upon

I will not say candles are holy
Just because my deceased grandmother believed so

I am a person
I am not a religion

It's wrong
It's unkind
It's you
Everyone knows
Everything
Yet
We pass each other
Like ships in the night
Complete strangers
We're hardly strangers
We've spent hours together alone
Just the two of us
Laying and touching and kissing
But still
We walk past each other
Unacknowledged
That's how I feel
And it's not fair
That less than a week ago
We were together
And here and now
I may as well be invisible
It makes me livid
I stare at your back in class
I want to throw pebbles at your forehead
At the same time
I want to be affectionate
Can I utter a word to you in public
Will my mouth release the words
"Hi"
Be with me
And stop with the *******
Because I know you have a lot on your mind
And none of us are immune to life
I can help
I can be with you
Just say
"Hello"

I read to you
My unspoken words
Emotions so personal
Thoughts I've never shared
With anyone ever before
And as I read to you
I use my poetry
To show you how I feel
And when I ask you
"What do you think of it?"
You reply
So thoughtlessly
"I wasn't listening"