What is of a child's worth,
they say,
if not to save the Earth?

But hundreds of miles away
a twelve year old girl
sits in a classroom
and learns about the world
as it passes by.

How's it come to this--
having to defend the world to be able to live in it?
How's it come to this--
to be born
rid of birthright?
Must a child's life burn
as fast as a candle's wick,
or a forest in a slow, painful disappearing trick?
And instead of a crowd roar of applause,
there's only silence;
and then nothing.

The boogeyman wears the same ring as mummy
And sleeps in her bed every night
Yesterday he hit my mummy
and told me she was alright.

Settle?
For less?
Darling
I shape my dreams
with clouds
and dance on gloom
for me to chase false happiness.
I am
no bookshelf dust.
I have far a desire to remain
on cobwebbed nooks.
I have far a desire to
be as i am,
and be just that.

i’ve witnessed how his spine grows soft—
what makes his knees sink into the ground.
i am certain that the first time he said he wanted me
was the first time the word “want” felt like a leash around my neck—
you’ve got your hands full.
and on days you flinch
when you hear the word commitment,
they slink out empty.

how a soul
could wreak so much havoc
over another,
reminds me
why hurricanes
are named after people
and why pulses to pulses
are sometimes
unapologetically
catastrophic

mgv

Oh how sweet it is
to want
and how fleeting it is
to have.

should i inherit
the good days
and find myself
rolling on grassfields
teeth bared and barefoot,
i will think of you.

and should
i dance around
on barren land,
nimbuses by my ankles
and still river,
i will think of you.

my dear,
i’m afraid
i cannot fathom a day
that i dont.
i would not want to.