She said she could reach the moon
So she could steal the light
She just wanted to make it alright

So stand up tall my dear
Go ahead and take the blame
There’s nothing more to gain
So let the brick walls crumble
Let the walls crumble down

Lungs full of water
Slowly drowning
Can’t catch her breath
Can’t catch her breath
She hides her tears
To help you through
Inside she’s screaming

She said she could save the world
So she could **** the demons
She said she would find peace
To the end

So look back on everything
What do you see now?
A life in shambles
A life full of hate
Vengeance is everything
There must be grace

So stand up tall my dear
Spread your wings and fly
The world is beautiful
Keep your mind open

Eyes full of wonder
Slowly awakening
Finally can breathe
Finally can breathe
She writes
To show her pain
Are you even listening?
Are you even here?

She said she could reach the moon
So she could steal the light
She wanted to share the beauty

© Jo Tomso

I Will Never Give Up on You  
By: Miranda Martinez-Perez  

I've  been to a place "they" would consider "the top,"
And it felt great... that was.. until I fell.
It was a long way down. Would it hurt? I thought not;
And I was wrong, cause it hurt like H*ll.

I've hit rock bottom with an awful THUD.
Took me a while to realize I was still alive.
I wondered if it'd even be worth it to get back up..
Then pondered if I should just accept this is how I would die.

But something inside of me wasn't ready to fail.
I wasn't  ready to give up the fight.
In my mental prison, I chose to make bail.
I can't change my wrongs, but I can make them right.

So I got up, though it took all that I had left inside,
Went to that place that for so long I feared.
I knew the first one with whom I had to make things right,
that one was the one looking back in the mirror.

"I'm sorry," I said, "your expectations were not too much.
I admit I've just let myself get in the way.
I never took it into consideration that I alone am enough.
And all the extras in life were only for show and play.

You are perfect, I love you, and I am going to change.
I don't deserve for you to believe me, but I swear it's true."
The response I got.. I never expected to hear MYSELF say..
That was, "I will never  give up on you."

Take a white woman and cover her in red paint
Take a black woman and do the same
Now you can't tell the color of their skin
You can only judge from what is within

We are taught from a young age
To hate what is different from us
Now it's your choice to be peaceful
It's not the paint that is deceitful

But we are the same kind of people
If you look in my inner reflection
It's not about thick thighs and pigmentations
It's about every heart in all of the nations

Who would you take a slug for
Who do you wish death upon
Don't waste your bad words
On the ears of that's all that they've heard

Speak life into strangers daily
I don't know you or owe you
But I can still call you my friend
And we will fight together until the end

We all bleed red paint
We all die sinners and saints
Don't label me something I ain't
This heart, is not for the faint

So bless my skin
An all that is within
From the tips of my toes to
Every part the good Lord to knows

You judge me if you like
I won't reflect on it
I have cracks in my skin
And all the paint seeps in

And so it fills me up
With all the love and the pain
Of those who bleed out in vain
Because fools speak words that sound insane

Different shades of acceptance
So judgmental in their minds
Because they fear what is different
It's not your fault they on ignorance

So color me blue
And let the sky watch
Because we have bigger problems
Than who's white and who's not

You frighten me, in the way that a small bird or beautiful flower would frighten me.
The way a soft rabbit might rub against my ankle and and doze in my lap.
You are the clouds beneath my weary airplane, flung out across the atmosphere.
And you are the prickle of a heavy wool blanket in the thin chill of the night.
You are the the warm, green earth of the mountains, holding up the lightness of the blue sky.
The breeze kisses at the hem and collar of my shirt, and I hear you in it.
I lose you in my arms and find you, a fleeting creature in the forest.