I am mad
Not just mad, I am furious

People all around me lie
And cheat and steal
But worse they judge
And assume, and stereotype
So I am mad

It is the privileged
It is the privileged who judge the most
In their white castles perched on a cliffside
Their ignorance and lackluster
But they say ignorance is bliss
So I am mad

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
That's what our constitution says
Yet how can these be ours when those who are unaccepted
Those who are thrown out and tossed aside
Are forced to change for those who dominate them
So I am mad

If only
If only every Black, Asian, Native American,
gay, bi, woman, and person could see
That you are who you are
And not who you are told to be
So how am I to accept myself
If a cab driver I once had rolled his eyes at me and made me squirm in my seat
For wearing a pink wig and all black
So I am mad

I am mad
Because I can not be who I am
Because my curly hair is “too frizzy”
Because I respect the rights of others
I am mad

I am mad that I still have to be mad
I am mad
Because there were so many before me,
Yet I still have to be mad
Mad that the blissful ignorance is far too ignorant
Mad that a quiff-haired, white, christian boy tells me that having a pedophilic and sexist man as a president is better for the well-being of all than a woman ever could be
So I am still mad

I will stay mad
Mad at the ignorant
At the arrogant
At the system for changing once proud groups of people
I am mad
And I will forever be mad
Until I can look a KKK member in the eye without feeling like my life is at risk of ending

Am I not enough
Are my words not projecting
Can you not hear what I am saying
Am I not enough

Am I not enough
That my tears are just weakness,
That my worries are just in my head
Am I not enough

Am I not enough
That you stare all day,
Yet never listen to what I have to say
Am I not enough

Am I not enough
That my work and pain
My dreams and my fight
Is not a struggle,
Merely a call for attention
Am I not enough

Am I not enough
That my call for justice
Is covered by shouts of cowardice
And my love of me,
Is questioned by those who surround me
I am not enough

I am not enough
That when I preach peace
My words are twisted that I am anti-justice
I am not enough

I am not enough
That when I talk about my disgust at the wicked
They come after me, scared that a half-black girl said something true
Am I not enough.

I wish
I wish I liked STEM
I perpetuate the stereotype,
women studying English,
and art,
and languages

My love of the arts,
and the humanities,
Is regressing women's history

But it is my right
My right to study art,
and languages,
and theatre

Women's empowerment
And fight for equality,
is so I can study humanities,
and Tiera Fletcher could study rocket science

Feminism fights for the rights of women AND men
For all who fall in between that,
and those who lie outside the spectrum

It fights for African People,
for Asian People,
for Native American and Inuit People,
for African-American People,
and Hispanic People

To educate the European and privileged populations
And to promote empathy,
and compassion

Feminism fights for the rights of all,
Young and old
For those who are underpaid,
and those who are paid far too much
And that,
is feminism to me

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired
I am tired of the fights,
The political wars,
And the real ones
Of the lies and deceit,
Of the blinding ignorance

You don’t care
You. Don’t. Care.
Because you don’t have to
Your brothers aren’t being shot,
Your mothers aren’t being locked up
Your aunts aren’t being deported,
And your cousins aren’t beating themselves up
You don’t care,
but I wish you did

What do I have to do?
Because all my talking and all my speeches aren’t helping
I am being called an angry child,
so you can sit comfortably on your throne of privilege

So please, enjoy
Enjoy as your world crumbles and falls around you
But know this
I may be tired,
I may be fed up,
And I may be frustrated,
But I am **** sure not done yet

Change is hard
Change requires difficulty and struggle,
pain and heartache

Change is all around us
It calls for us,
beckons us to it
But change means we must act

The world is falling apart around us
The oceans are growing
Our lands are burning
Our hatred of one another takes a step forward and two back
We must strive for change

We make changes to our lives everyday
A haircut
Moving into a new house
Attending a global warming protest,
they are all changes

Change is hard
Change is unnerving
But the world needs change
Or it is about to become a whole lot more uncomfortable

Life is crazy
And sweet
And painful
And,
wonderful

It makes out toes curl
Our faces smile
Our eyes water

Life makes the stars so beautiful
And war so tragic

Life makes us spin like butterflies in the wind,
Life makes us ance
And sing
And laugh
And cry
And shout
And love

It makes us want to hold the whole world in our hands

When I love,
I love too much
When I love,
I love with my whole heart

When I love
I worry
I always worry,
About those I love

I am going to lose them one day
One day I am going to lose a person I love
But just because I lose them,
doesn't mean its the end

When I love,
I never want to let go
When I love,
It causes me pain
And heartache
And suffering
But I love to love,
Because loving and not being afraid to love,
Is what makes the tears worth it in the end

Do you ever think about who you will marry?
Who can you envision at the end of the aisle?

Waiting for you, eyes trained on you,
And only you

I think I know
But I don't know
I haven't even lived a whole life yet

However,
I can imagine him

Curly hair and glasses,
Wearing a bowtie
And a smile so wide

It's him

I think

I hope

I know

Have you ever marvelled at the world around you
Taken a breath and been astounded
Felt the breeze breathe life into your lungs

Have you ever felt the thrum of the Earth
Felt her heartbeat in the souls of your feet,
And the tips of your toes

Have you ever heard the call of the universe
Felt the pull inside you,
drawing you in
Rooted deep within and all around

Have you ever marvelled at the world around you
Felt the pull in your fingers
It's strength in your toes
Wanted to make a difference,
and know that one has already been made

I'm conflicted
I want to cry

Feelings are dangerous,
They lead on and hurt
Expose and drain
But they are also wonderful

Feelings uplift,
they swell the heart and frazzle the brain

I feel too much
I am one to one hundred,
to thirty to four
I love to feel,
feel passion and serenity
To love wholly and entirely