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 Aug 2016 Jess Hays
River Scott
It's been
1 month
730 hours
43800 minutes

Since I left
Since I walked away
Since I realized, that you,
were not what I wanted
that you didn't treat me
the way you should

I realized, happy
shouldn't be fleeting
shouldn't be just you and I
shouldn't be, just here and there

Now I'm alone
And I'm not sure that's any better.
Why can't I just let it go.
 Aug 2016 Jess Hays
Jewel Burton
Is there really life after death?
Or do you just lie in the cold ground?
Do you actually go on to something better or worse?
Or is it the last time you see the people you live around?
 Aug 2016 Jess Hays
meagan
if you can find the happiness in simple things, then you'll always end up being okay.
 Aug 2016 Jess Hays
meagan
touch.
 Aug 2016 Jess Hays
meagan
my index finger connects each freckle on your skin to create new constellations.
*****
*****
Bushy
Wild

Mocked
Ridiculed
Bullied
Ashamed

Straigh­tened
Weaved
Braided
Pressed

Accepted
Welcomed
Complimented
Love­d

I look in the mirror and I do not like what I see
My hair is broken, unhealthy and destroyed
I tried to fit in
I wanted to fit in

She, my mother, didn't know how to manage my wild tresses
She, my mother, didn't know how to love my wild mane
She, my mother, didn't teach me how to embrace me
She, my mother, became a victim of society
She, my mother, then taught it to me

Growth
Self love
Self care
Time to accept me and take care of my hair

I'm making a return to my roots and to that kid
I big chopped Ya'll
Yes, I did
I embraced myself and all that is

*****
Curly
Sophisticated
Wild

In love
In awe
Accepted
Welcomed

Embraced
Unapologetic
Free
Natural me
 Aug 2016 Jess Hays
Edward Alan
Oct.
 Aug 2016 Jess Hays
Edward Alan
You’ve put leaves in piles
with ceaseless breath—
before, they were green
and dilated. I think they
knew they had to fall.

I’ve seen the grayed walks
lie under milkfoams of
fog you spear with flits
of once-in-a-while rain, as
Jupiter swallows comets.

You wrap birds in tight
black coats, slimming
their feathers. You don’t
let them speak. A dim
shadow is uncovered.

I find sheets over me,
all white or all sky blue—
remembering how clean
the cool dryness feels
and rustling in the wind.
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