I wasn’t afraid to die,

I live my life,
In my suburban town,
In my clean community,
And life is fine.

I go to school,
And have my friends,
And hang out on the weekends,
And we go to the mall.

But one day I go to school,
And I’m standing at my locker,
And I hear what sounds like fire crackers,
And it isn’t the Fourth of July.

I hear a scream down the hall,
And I see my friends,
And I see my teachers,
And I see my life flash before my eyes

I was never afraid to die

I look around and run,
And go as fast as my legs can carry me,
And I want my parents to know,
I was never afraid to die,

Until it happened to me.

Little boy who runs away
Know the truth of pain
Better the most

The young mom
Starving
Struggling to make ends meet
Dealing with
A bureaucracy
That hates what it made her into
So it punishes her
For their failing policies
And she sees
Her family in poverty
Discarded
By the ignorant hearted

How many times
Can you arrest a man
For existing
Because that is
The only crime
He was committing
Because he could not
Predict which way
Your whims and quota
Will send him

How many spouses
Can you detach from
The ones you claim
Are the victims
Of foreign systems
So you keep some
And split them
Take her and send him
Back to where
He they both came from

The writer sees
The reader hears
The person feels
But the republican
Forget to be human
The democrat
Sits back
And distorts facts
Claiming that they
Will help those
Who needed the most
But the money flows
From the rich to the politician
And back around again
That’s a revolving door

This country was founded
By the wealthy for the wealthy
And does not cede the power
Does not tell the truth
Pay fair wages by the hours
Only consumes those who do
Taking the fair minded
And turning them towards
Business dreams
And get rich quick
Lottery dreams

And if I had the power
To change the world
If they suspected
That I really could
They would try
To buy me out
****** or discredit me
Luckily they don’t read
As much as me
Or a single thing from me
So I am free to tell the truth

Oh honey,
Sometimes it’s the timing that’s wrong
Not you.

think to yourself
and just breathe
take something
to make you feel
above the clouds
past the moon,
past the stars

at 4 in the
morning the sun
is never up
but i usually am

i worry
about things
that are out of
my control
even more about
things that are

get up early
when i work
and earlier
when i don’t
the older i get the
more i learn
sometimes you
need to cry it out

alone
at night
into your pillow
the blankets
wrapped all
around you

sometimes you
need to cry
and cry
and cry

until the morning
sun falls across
the tears dried
under your lashes

and the lump
in your throat has
dissolved so you can
breathe with ease

you need to get up
let hot water
wash it away
let the steam rising
from your mug soften
any sorrow left around
your morning eyes
take a deep breath
don’t mention it
to anyone

and
just
keep
going

i will
just
keep
going

I LIKE TO SAY YOUR NAME

I like to say
your name

when you're
not here

turn you
into sound

conjure you out of
thin air

so that you appear
before me

dressed in sound
only

memory sketching in
the rest of you

as if sound
was just an outline

and love
colours you in

adding the voice last
so I can hear you say.

"Hello you..!"
and there you are

as present
as present

can be.

I like to say
your name

when you're
not there.