Be careful when you peel your battles
Cause some oranges fight back.

It all happened while I was standing in a hallway
I peeled and orange, and it fought back

I stood there trying to get beaneath the skin
but it's juice dripped uncontrollably

The venom of the peel shot into my eye
and I was half-blind as the fight continued

I managed to get off a thumb-sized peel
it hit the carpet, with a thud
just kidding peels don't make noise when they fall
but I heard a thud in my mind

I gouged out one slice, mangeld, yet juicy
and handed it to a boy named Timmy

Timmy nodded, and said
"This is a good one, definitely worth the fight!"

The juice was so extreme
it was hitting my head, mid section, arms, and legs with full force

Almost beat, but not quite I looked down at my body..
I was thoroughly covered with orange insides

This was the last straw,
still peel covered, and losing lots of juice...
I opened it in half

Juice exploded everywhere and my hands were so slippery...
the entire orance took its plumet to the carpet

The orange fought back, and I didn't get to eat it
it saw its happy ending in the trash can

Oh how I wanted that orange
The orange that fought back.

I wish I could pull off calling everyone babe.
Like the bus driver did.

Leave a green tree in your heart
in hopes that a bird will come and sing in it

“You, yeah you!”
“I love you”
“Let's get married”

I wish large groundhog signs were all over the place
and obnoxious middle schoolers weren't so cute and lovable

Sometimes I order coffee
and fill up the cup with sprite when the guy isn't looking

I need another person with me in order to impulse buy.
That's why I didn't get the owl painting.

I wish I could use spoons as instruments
as flawlessly as the woman downtown did.

Try not to give a **** what anybody thinks
just get comfortable.

Peanut butter and jelly with a side of chips and cheese
may seem like a strange combination
but I liked it.

I wish I bought the tank top with the trees and tent design
but I didn't have somebody else with me.

I also like bonding over little things
with random people.

Cause the little things
are the big things.

with so much given
comes an unexpected addition -
stress-giving,
anxiety ridden,
pressure inducing -

upholding the expectations
and surpassing them
to make everyone else's efforts
worth it

Let’s talk about the one percent
No, not the one percent with fancy jets or foreign cars
But the one percent that is behind bars.

Yes it true,
One in a hundred are currently in prison
But what are we supposed to do?

Crime rates are dropping
But what do we have to show
While prison populations continue to grow and grow?

You see this isn’t just a war on crime.
Communities are being taken under siege one at a time.

Because sure it might be one percent overall
But according to the cops all the criminals seem to fall
Inside communities filled with minorities.

In some places it’s as high as 10 percent
Of young men being taken from their cities and sent
Away from their families and homes
Unable to provide for the people they call their own

Children are being taken hostage in this so-called war
Many forced to grow up poor
With just one income with which to buy
Necessities such as food and school supplies

And this doesn’t end when the fathers are free
It’s almost as though they must pay another fee
Because who would ever hire a criminal?
Many employers find such a thing unforgivable.

It’s doesn’t end there
Because the current state of our welfare
Does not allow felons to apply for aid
Such as food stamps or Medicaid.

It’s almost as though children are set up to fail
Once one of their parents is put in jail.
Without food or access to proper health care
Their chances to succeed become extremely impaired.

Children of felons are more likely to
Struggle with language and behavioral problems than me and you
But how can you blame them when
They are forced to go to school again and again
Hungry and tired simply because
There isn’t enough family income
To provide for their basic needs
And give them the tools they need to succeed.  

It’s a cycle you see
Of children growing up unable to be
Everything they can truly become
Because their lives are determined by a sum of
Stereotypes and unfair laws
And treating the symptoms instead of the cause.

And just because it is not happening here
Still means it’s something to be feared.
Because for thousands of children this is their reality
Unable to escape the totality

This problem is not temporary
And we can’t  just push it from our memory.
It’s our duty to give them a voice
It’s up to us, it’s all our choice.

It's not about you
escaping life.

It's about not letting
life escape
**you.

So much strain
comes from the confinement
children and young adults face
but the only solution people have
are either more boxes
or shame and isolation.
How can there be no solution?
How can there be no life
for those who are tired
of waiting in boxes?
The earth is made
and intended
to be our oyster,
but we have drained all sea
for the oyster to live in.
The world is not an oyster,
it is merely the shell.
It is the lie told
to eat the food you don't like.
It is the diet soda
eatings its way through you.

I wish somebody could see that I'm drowning inside my own mind.
I wish somebody would throw me a life ring and pull me back to sanity.