Mama pulls up to the mailbox
You get out of the car
She drives up to the house
You'll check the mail and walk
Aren't you scared?
Of walking down the street alone
After all these years
of being seen the way you're seen
With your turban
How do you feel safe?
In a country where people believe you don't belong
Now, I get it
We look around
everyone is white
And you're so polite
And loving to everyone you meet
But you know
They might turn around at any time
saying go back to your country
go back, go back to where?
Maybe that's what you meant
when you told me
You'll never be white
I looked at my skin
of course
But you meant
You'll never be one of them
And you're nice
And they're nice
But the minute someone asks where you're from
It's us and them
Again
Maybe that's what you meant
Will I let it slide
if someone says something about what's on your head
Or will I say
that's my father
What if it's not words,
but a piercing gaze
how will we protect ourselves then?
If it's a policeman
What am I going to say?
You
have to face it
And you wish the universe could spare your children
That's what you meant

In a dystopian future where mosquitos have been all but eradicated, manual injections of anti-coagulants are a luxury in which the rich partake. Demand is high and access is highly restricted. On the surface, this is justified through religious ideologies, but at its core it is driven by class discrimination; it is a way for the wealthy to give yet another hearty ****-you to the poor.

As often happens in the case of substances which are both in demand and restricted, a thriving illegal drug trade has emerged. Low-quality anti-coagulants trickle down to the poor, but are, of course, subject to higher sentencing, for the safety of those taking them.

People share needles. Facilities for safe-injections exist, but mostly people prefer to attend ‘injection ******' where they literally scratch each other’s backs.

If a man sees beauty
And approaches with intent
He soon retreats
In fear of brains

If a woman sees brains
And approaches in fellowship
She soon retreats
In fear of beauty

- Lonely

What a question
skin woven as threads of canvas
interpret this face
quite a tapestry of biological traits
ask again like I’m not even a who
you’ll ring ring and ring
but artwork will never get back to you

No one came to my funeral
Yes, I am, very very dead
No one came to my funeral
Because they aren't right in the head.

No one came to my funeral
Only a couple close friends
No one came to my funeral
Just well wishes sent

No one came to my funeral
They left mom and dad all alone
No one came to my funeral
They just sat there at home

No one came to my funeral
Even though I'm dead
No one came to my funeral
Because of the hijab on my head

This country was founded on the idea of being who you are in liberty, yet there are people trapped in closets because the monsters are on the other side and the darkness has become too comforting at this point; the face of death has become too beautiful to want to turn away. We are hidden, dancing around the idea of being hung as perfectly as that shirt that was “too gay”; planning our proposal to the Grim Reaper because, at this point, he is the only man who can “turn us straight”. We’re rolling out our blueprints and studying the structure of surviving instead of accepting that we’re different and actually living. The pride that used to live in us died a long time ago, maybe around the same time we were in the closet writing our suicide notes; for others, it was the day they were calling their loved ones for final words before their pulse was devoured by the hurricane.

This country was founded on the idea of being who you are in liberty, yet it was built off blacks and Native Americans forced into captivity; sold and sent off into slavery. The basis of this country is “freedom”, but… I’m still trying to find the point in time when we practiced what we preached, um - have you heard the joke about the Annoying Orange? He was elected president. No, wait, I think it was actually part of a horror movie. I’m sorry, was that racist? Because there are people on twitter who rant about how “REVERSE RACISM DOES EXIST” and “WHITE OPPRESSION”, now please don’t get offended, but it’s 2017 and the true founders of these divided, yet technically united, states are being held at gunpoint simply for being born that way. Just when we thought the crackling of our spines was enough to run the white boys away, they had to send their dads in to drop charges labeled “thief”, “****”, and “felon” on our shoulders until they crushed our will to live. Now don’t have hope on justice for that is nothing but a fairy tale. If you haven’t already realized, the dragon of their arrogance grows the more they see us fail.

This country was founded on the idea of being who you are in liberty, ...but we forgot to include women in the subtext. Did I say “we”? I’m sorry. I meant HE, and not HE as in God who created you and me, but HE as in the Annoying Orange and every Arrogant Coconut elected to run this country. Apparently, we must conform to their manly mentality, their barbaric way of living because

“Women are too emotional”

“She’s probably PMSing”

But tell a guy he throws like a girl and watch his estrogen crawl from the deepest corners of his eye sockets as he runs away; their faces flushed with shame… because being feminine is something to be ashamed about. Throwing like a girl is offensive. Losing to your girlfriend in 2k is not Ok.
“You must obey me” they say.

“You belong in the kitchen”

And all we knew to say was “ok”.

You see, I’m tired of being tamed by men and am regurgitating all these false allegations.

I will not stop eating chocolate cake to please you. I love chocolate cake. It pleases me.

I will not watch my weight to protect your pride. Loving my weight is my pride.

I will not do squats because you want to post a picture of me on Instagram under hashtag thicc. I hate exercising. It’s exhausting.

I will only stop eating chocolate cake when I start to break out in places I shouldn’t.

I will only watch my weight when my doctor tells me I will die otherwise.

I will only do squats when I want to check myself out in my new bikini in the summertime.

This country was founded on the idea of being who you are in liberty, but it’s difficult to get the message across without learning the word “respect”.

You. Heterosexual judging me. Respect our various identities.
You. Caucasian individual. Acknowledge and respect our black history.
You. Cisgender male oppressing my womanhood. Respect your own mother.
You. Liberal teen defending your right to believe. Respect the worn out Cheeto puff.

And you will see…

Maybe one day we will know a free America.

We had a fight this morning
But couldn't made up immediately
Then we were off to work

We met on the pitch as rivals
Still upset with each other
Shoving around
Swearing at each other
Like rivals usually do on the pitch

At some point we're so near to
Beat each other up
When he grabbed my **** to provoke me
That really got on my nerves
That I raised my fist at him
"Yeah, go ahead punch me in the face now! Or I'm gonna kiss you on the lips!"
I saw he stared right into my soul
My fist stopped in the air

He did kiss me
The whole stadium went mad
And I didn't know what matters anymore

Yes, you can guess.
We are footballers and rivals on the pitch
Lovers in bed in the dead of night

denial seems to be our specialty
blinding ourselves from what we even could have loved
in honor to the essence of reality
we follow whatever convenience seems right
a come back or a fall down are too similar
same monster just another mask
denigration is just another vice

we judge so we can fill our empty sorrow
to pass the pain away
like anestesia for our sorrow
we denigrate the ones who fulfilled our mandate
we dishonor the ones who are not ashamed
deep inside we wish we would be like them
but they made it
and we are restrained