long ago our feet only graced the ground
now we can soar beyond the highest clouds
long ago we were fortunate to live long
now everywhere you look, there is silver hair
long ago we only knew how to boil herbs
now we can cure even the most complicated diseases

yet, we are statues
we choose to see only what our eyes can
we refuse to look into the souls of others
we reject the thought of understanding each other
refusing to let go to the ideas set by our ancestors
keeping certain people in certain places

how long will we stay in this position?

Teetering on the edge of insanity
Trying to find a center of Gravity
Cutting off my circulation
in order to make this declaration
about my queen-born ability
to walk with such fabulosity.
Though this gown's a monstrosity,
my hair a curiosity,
there's much about this lofty gait
that I did not anticipate.
Like how the swinging of my hips
counters the sway of my fingertips.
Who knew there would be such an orchestration?
A body in concert - a standing ovation!
And every step another encore,
deliriously shouting, "More! More! More!"
And suddenly, the world is new.
I've never seen it from this point of view.
Amazing the difference a few inches can make
to change the reality which I now create.
And though my feet are squeezed like stumps
into these six-inch stiletto pumps,
a testimonial I must profess;
How wonderful it is
to be a boy in a dress.

अनजालु अनजालि फरायसाफोर
दिनै आं नोँसोरनो सोमो गोनां दोँसे बानायलु सल' खिन्थागोन।
सल'आ ओरै-
मोनसे गामियाव सानै सिखोलाफोर दंमोन।
बिसोरनि मुङा बैसागि आरो सासेनिया सनास्रि।
सानैबो ओरैबादि आखाफाखामोनदि रावबो फेजेननो हाया बुंजाबायनायमोन बयजोँबो।
दानाय-लुनाय, गायनाय-फुनाय,
रायज्लायनाय-फरायनाय बिसोर सानैबादि
सिख्ला जेरावबो नागिरना मोन्नो थाङामोन।
बै सानै सिख्लाया ओरैबादि समायनामोनबोदि
रावबो सेँग्राफ्रा हास्थाया लासे नुब्लानो थानो हायामोन।
सानसेखालिनि बाथ्रा-
बै सानै सिख्लानि गेजेरावबो दानिया सासे नङा सासेथ' सेथियाव थाथारनांगोन।
नाथाय सानैबो नैथियाव थानो गोसो गैया।
बेबादिनो जेरावबो जेरैबो मोनफ्रोम बिथिँआवनो बादायलायनाय जानायसै।
थेवबो सानैबो समान समान।
फेजेन लायनो हायै सानैहाबो जेन्नाय गैया।
सासे ओरैबादि मिनिनो रोँगौदि
बेबादि दासिमबो मिनिनो गोरोँ मोदाय
उजियाखै होन्नानैनो बयबो सानोमोन।
बिनि मुङा बैसागि।
जै बे मिनिबाय बयबो सेंग्रा मा बोराय
दंनायमानि हौवाफ्रानो फाग्ला जाजोबनो नागिरोमोन।
थफिँहां थफिहां बिबारफोरानो समायना गेवलांजोबथारोमोन।
सानसेखालि सानैनि गेजेराव मिनिनायनि बादायलायनाय जाबाय।
बेयाव गोरलैयैनो बैसागिया देरहाबाय।
बेयो ओरैबादि देरगाबायदि सनास्रिया थानो हायाखिसै।
सान हर गाबबाय थाबाय।
नाथाय बेहा अब्लाबो जेन्नाय गैया।
मोजां सान नायना सानसेखालि
लाजिनायनि बादायलायनाय जानायसै।
बेयाव ओरैबादि लाजिनायनि फाव खालामबायदि
सनास्रिया थारैनो देरहामारबाय।
बिनि रोँगौ आखुखौ बयबो बाखोनायबाय।
बियो देरहाबाय थेवबो बैसागियाबो जेनाखै।
मानोना बियो मिनिनायाव देरहाखांबायमोन।
दा सानैबो समान समान।
नाथाय सनास्रिया सिगांआव जेनग्रोखाबायमोन
बे बाथ्राखौ लानानै बैसागिया सनास्रिनि सायाव सोँखारिबाय।
नाथाय बेबादि नङा सनास्रिया बुंबाय-
लाजिनायनि बादायलायनाया जाग्रोबा आंनो देरहाग्रोगौमोन सिगां।
नांज्लाय नांज्लाय उनथाराव सानैनि गेजेराव गिदिर दावहायानो जामारबाय।
ओरैबादि बार बारनायसै,
सार-अन्थाइ दैबाना बायदि बुंफबनाय।
नाथाय बेल' नङा जोबोद खोमसि,
जोबोद खोमसिथार जानायसै।
रावबो सहायनो हायै बे दावहाखौ
नायना थानो हायैनि बयबो रायजोफ्रा
गाव गावनि न'आव एब्रेजोबनायसै।
बैसागि आरो सनास्रि सानैबो जेना जेना।
जोबथारनायाव सासेनि उनाव सासेया
सोर्गोआव थांजोबनायसै।
सोर सिगां थांखो,
सोर उनावसो थांखो,
रावबो रायजोफ्रानो मिथिनो मोनाखिसै।
नङाब्ला जोँ मिथिगौमोन-
जायनो सिगां थांदोँ बियो सेथि
एबा जायनो उनावसो थांदोँ बेनो सेथि।
अदेबानि सासे नङा सासेथ'
सेथि जाखाथारगोन नङा होनबा??

Tear it up and turn it grey
for the sanitized miles.
Turn it grey and tear it up
for clean-cut faces' ***** smiles.
That's the uptown style, boy--
                  the predator's call--
so bring your knives and brass knuckles
to the board meeting ball.

I've watched my town follow gridlines

from city parks to parking lots

And I can read the prescription

spray-painted on the Wal-Mart wall

               I'd turn away
                if I could...

TAKE TWO A DAY
TWO A DAY
WITH A BELLY FULL OF MEAT
WHEN ASPHALT COVERS ******* FLESH
AND YOUR DREAMS ARE ALL CONCRETE

TWO A DAY
TAKE TWO A DAY
Then try to get some sleep
where the wires and the tenants wear fatigue.

Turn it up and tear away
all the sanitized grins.
Watch the businessmen play checkers,
watch the crocodiles win.
That's the uptown game, kid--
                  the alpha wolf's goal--
lap the blood off boardroom tables,
let the necktied heads roll.

They used to watch their kids play there.

Trees, voices, playgrounds are all gone.

And you can see the prescription

spelled out above the mini-malls.

              can't run away;
              wish you could...

TAKE TWO A DAY
TWO A DAY
OR A MOUTHFUL ALL THEY CARE.
WHEN LIONS LEAVE THE BALLROOM,
THERE WON'T BE ONE BONE TO SPARE.

TAKE TWO A DAY
TWO A DAY
WITH A BELLY FULL OF MEAT.
AMBITION RIPS THROUGH ****** FLESH
AND BLEEDS DOLLARS FROM CONCRETE.

TWO A DAY
TAKE TWO A DAY
Then try to get some sleep
where tenants and the wiring are fatigued.

You can feel it spinning
                                         fast
the Chinese, Japanese, American and European junk
orbiting at several thousand miles per hour could
                                                           ­                             punch
a hole in your armor, future. Thanksgiving passes, then Christmas.
A nuclear detonation, we absorb that fact. The scientist in us
delays sadness by recording observations. What is is,
sorrow's for tomorrow.

By reducing probabilities to near zero I hope to avoid sorrow.
In yr suburb.
In history when there were many fewer people we still found reason
to cross space, explore, trade and war. Now
                                                             ­                 overpopulation
may not be the problem but food and water shortages
get our attention.
                              I have Korf's fears.
And hear what I want to hear.

Some hear singing, some hear speeches or complaining.
Martin Luther King sang his complaints, dreamed of a brotherly nation
which came to pass, spinning fast, past Thanksgivings, past jailings
into reconnaissance, small wars, drones, renaissance, inventions.
At the border,
                         where the Juaristas fought Maximilian:
Benito Juarez (1806-1872) Zapotec Amerindian who served five terms as president of Mexico. He was the first Mexican leader who did not have a military background and also the first full-blooded indigenous person to lead a country in the western hemisphere in over 300 years. For resisting French occupation, overthrowing the Empire, and restoring the Republic, Juarez is regarded as Mexicoxs greatest and most beloved leader. 

Each soldier chooses what war at what border, or just
                                                            ­                                   shows up
spinning with the planet.
The neighborhood and surrounding nature is orderly.
But always there is implied force, violence holding it together,
                                                       ­                                                       chaos
is contained
kept out of the playground, government buildings, childrenxs games
but lies within
the force maintaining order, a spinning tumor, a gyroscope of
                                                              ­                                                inertia.
The force of the spinning, the speed of the force bring one to one's
      death
seasons, weather, earth.
                                         While the emperor's being beheaded
enduring seeds are discovered and invented, cross-fertilized and bred.
Corn, yams, potatoes, sunflowers, rice.
                                                           ­       Food is life and a good study,
useful discipline
                           daily meditation.
                                                     ­   The fighting man protects the farmer
and the farmer feeds the fighting man.
They elect the governor
                                        who serves the people. Peace out.

Peace and war are transitory manifestations of spinning
electrons, planets.
                               The sun's a nuclear detonation, essential
to spring and planting. Food is life. Seeds endure
if man goes to his daily discipline. If woman is man.
Birth and death
                           together are orderly, the border can be known,
voluntarily. How we live together, by prayer or force,
is our story.

Knowledge
from laboratory to starry corridor keeps us very
                                                            ­                         versed.
Did Juaristas consider the rights of animals not to be eaten?
Not during that spinning.
                                              And perform the history that surrounds us.
All that can be done
is written in the spinning:
"The people of the land, the Indian farmers of North America - like their counterparts in Mesoamerica, the Andean region, and the Amazon - have continuously cultivated maize, beans, squash and other crops for more than five thousand years. One of the salient features of their traditional farming systems is the high degree of biodiversity. These traditional farming systems have emerged over centuries of cultural and biological evolution, and they represent the accumulated experience of indigenous farmers interacting with the environment without access to external inputs, capital or scientific knowledge. In Latin America alone, more than 2.5 million hectares under traditional agriculture in the form of raised fields, polycultures, agroforestry systems and the like document indigenous farmers' successful adaptations to difficult environments."

Dear Cecil the Lion,

What happened to you was a terrible thing.
What you represent most assuredly will live onward.
The  ****** and dishonest way you were lured out
of the animal sanctuary to have a bullet put through you
was a tragedy.  

But,
you can go unfuck yourself.
To be honest,
your death ranks just above a smooshed fly or mosquito.
After I heard the news of your death,
I finished taking a **** and went about my day.

I'm glad people are upset about something. Its time people started getting mad as hell & stopped taking it. BUT, maybe we should reconsider our priorities for a second the next time we decide to erupt in a collective outrage.

Whatever happened to #blacklivesmatter?
Oh right, they're still trying to put an end to racism in many areas
where some police are still under the impression it's the 1950's.

Hey...how's the whole world hunger thing going?
Well, it's probably not helping what with the whole food wasting bit
the majority of us practice.
And yes, I know there will always be someone starving somewhere for some reason due to a variety of circumstances, but that doesn't mean we gotta sit around in apathy over it.

What ever happened with all those troops
we were so excited to support when it came time
to defending our country? Oh right...

How's the whole woman's rights thing going?

One more question; do we still care about education or is that something we've just given up thinking about?

Look, I realize the aforementioned list of
#blacklivesmatter,
world hunger,
support the troops,
woman's rights
& education
are weighty topics in & of themselves with lots of intricacies.
And I understand they're not going to be solved in a day.
But, these big five all have one thing in common;
people.

George Carlin once spoke about people who "always gotta be saving something" from animals to the planet,
"We don't even know how to take care of each other & we want to save the ******* planet?!"

And I get it, there are those out there that probably care more about animal lives than human lives, which is cool.
Hey, if that's your prerogative, I'll buy everyone who feels this way
a ticket to the jungle & you can start doing your part sooner,
and much more quietly, especially when some of us are trying to eat.

Because I swear to whatever you hold most sacred & holy,
if one more person tries to tell me
to stop eating meat because it's ******,
I'm going to wrap my hand around their neck & squeeze,
shaking them as I shout "Plants are living beings too you ******* *******!"

I get it.
Some can feel that deeply when they eat meat & it makes them uncomfortable to chow down on the flesh of something else.
But why are we having THAT discussion
when someone else somewhere is starving?!

After we get the world hunger thing under control,
then we can talk about the morality of what we put in our mouths.
After we prove that we can take care of ourselves and each other,
then we can move on to whatever animals are left.

"You're too beautiful to be Aboriginal"

These words are meant to make me blush

Meant to make me smile and act coy

Meant to make me ignore the seething anger that rages beneath
the socially acceptable facade of
a woman that passes as white.

So I am a mutt
And this is my poem about having split identities
And not knowing who the **** I am
I am Chinese and Irish
Got them green eyes, but eat rice with every dish
Have the freckles, but my first language wasn't English

Back in high school, people called me white washed
But then,
Pointed and called me that Asian
People would sneer, "You aren't even real Chinese"
But there are so many things you all don't see
Like how my Tiger mom screams at home
About getting straight As
Till her shrills leave me frozen to the bone
And when I had a boyfriend she didn't approve of
She yanked my hair
And I cried it wasn't fair
She yelled, "oh I'll give the boys something to stare"
I watched as she cut all of it off
Strand by strand
Like a strong gust of wind blowing all the leaves off the branches till it was bare in winter
The following day at school, my excuse was I needed a new look, so this was her
And meals I don't even know how to translate into English are my comfort food
But I can down some fries and burgers when I'm with the dudes

I embrace both sides of what I am
But people categorize me into one, *******
With my Chinese family
They straight up tell you
You too skinny, too fat, so silly
They say my accent has gotten worse
The anger builds up of embarrassment and hurt
The race makes my face so red, it's like my head will soon burst
There's this underlying feeling of shame, that's the worst
Which side of me do I need to prioritize first?
I'm drowning between the ocean of two separate cultures, I'm submersed
English is the language I think in and I curse
There's so much more I can't even tell you within this verse

Oh the irony doesn't end there
My driving stereotypes are quite the scare
Cause I'm Chinese, automatically I **** at driving
But mixed with Irish, I'm also road raging
It's probably the worst combination
Of a stereotype from two different nations
Ha oh there's more
The drinking stereotype that's for sure
Irish side could down the whiskey much too quickly
But the Chinese typically are easily tipsy
This mix is kind of risky
One turns so incredibly red
And the other can get so drunk, you'd see two heads

I feel I am constantly at war
One side always wanting more