flatten your tongue
slip it between your teeth

n.

your little lips
forming an elipsis

o.

put them together
and may you declare
a word you’d so carefully deny—
no.

you spell it out
on table tops
shout it
from the rooftops

and when cursed hands
seek to defile your shrine
may you exclaim
"i am mine"

On the other side of the mountain, I will find my nest of nurture
And it will lead me gently to the sea.
And who I'll meet, I know not.
And what I'll do, I know not.
But I know that it will bring me back to me.

Every night I watch you,
With pride, you put your uniform on.
I know you're leaving soon,
I heard the velcro of your vest,
I heard you load your gun.
I peek down the stairs,
I watch you kneel, eyes shut,
I say a silent prayer with you.

May God watch over you tonight,
May Angels ride beside you.
May the Lord protect you,
And keep you in his sight.
May He give you strength to deal,
Deal with the unknown traumas.
May He give you courage,
At the darkest part of the night.
May He give you patients,
For those who just want to fight.
May He keep you confident,
Through all the disrespect.
And when the sun comes up,
And dawn is finally here.
May he bring you home to me,
Safe and well and here.

For I know that you are strong,
The strongest man I know,
And so must we be too.
For in this family we BLEED BLUE!!!

why is every poem about drowning?
crashing, falling, dissolving
why is everyone drowning?
an entire generation
pulled in by the tides of mental illness
why do we all hate ourselves?
was it the way we were raised?
or are we proof
that the theory of evolution is false
if survival of the fittest is true
then why do so many of us want to die?
a generation of sad
sad kids
betrayed by the chemicals
in their own brains
drowning
crying out
for seratonin