What brings humanity together
Will not be a common threat
For division, nothing is better
Than the pervasive fear of death

When frightened we lose our minds
The amygdala takes hold
And wise leaders fall behind
As the frightened favor the bold

So our salvation will not come from an alien invasion
Or the climatic devastation that is our own creation
Instead we must begin by looking deep within
Shared humanity is both the means and the end

Jesus didn’t have no acid
But someone must have been tripping
When they talked about his walk across lake placid
I may not be able to rise from the dead
But I will use my head
And every type of fungus I am fed
To be a warrior for peace
Powered by the energy of psychedelic release
To fight violence with loving silence
To end hate by helping people meditate
To spread rationality, a logical morality
To people of every nationality
So we can peacefully share the same piece of reality

Not too tall --

Don't want him towering over me

Looking down on me

Humiliating me

In more ways than one.


Eyes should be dark --

Not pale.

Don't want them

Cold, empty, icy

Don't need

A shark-like gaze

To chill me to the bone.


Not too large --

Don't need him to tell me

Just how big and strong and intimidating he is

Can't have him saying

Outright or otherwise

That he could hold me

Or anyone else down.

What else are arms for?


Not too crude --

In fact, I just might want him to talk

Like a woman.

Don't get me wrong --

My vocabulary is colorful enough.

It would be hypocritical to rule out profanity.

But, as soon as you call me or her or him or this or that

'*****'

The bile will surely be climbing my throat.


Not too proud --

Yes, confidence is attractive

But conceit is certainly no match.

I don't care if he thinks he looks good --

I will most likely agree that he does --

But one who can not admit to his mistakes

Let alone answer for them

Is a frightening caricature of humanity.

I am so flawed, love

But my flaws are not the cause of yours.


Not too dense --

Anyone who reads this

Male, female, or other

And calls me a 'man hater'

Or asks what I would think of a man

If he wrote something like this about a woman

Should run along

For that is not what I'm saying

Not at all.


I know what I deserve

And it's just what everyone else should get.

I just believe

That 'do unto others'

Should not die

Once the ring is on the finger

Or the name is on the dotted line.

I just believe

That 'love' should not be bastardized

To mean an unconditional, everlasting loop of

'Whatever you want

Honey.'

Only give what you'd want to get

Only take what you know you need

No matter the giver.

Bestow and accept nothing less

And as much more

As you can manage.


Believe me

I'll keep doing the same

No matter what you say.

It’s alright if you disagree
Talk to me dismissively
In a minute you’ll be missing me
When I go on a giving spree
Spread forgiveness and philanthropy
Set political dissidents free
Fight for humans globally
Glowing with righteous indignation
I ignite the fiery conflagration
I assemble a mighty congregation
To end divisive dehumanization

I will broaden your perspective
Shortcut your invective
My spirit: infective
My speeches: inflective
My mind: introspective
My method: incentive
My solutions: inventive
My course: corrective
If I die I’ll leave directions
I will write advanced directives
To form an animal collective
That sets a course for correction
Then come back, resurrection

To view the utopia I brought into existence before peacefully returning to a well-earned oblivion

She travelled,
Trudged the grasses that once were the reminder of the area she's confined in.
Walked through the bleak chambers of her heart that kept her vision captive.
Moved ahead, lancing the haziness caused by the droplets that once traced the extension of her cheeks every now and then.
Legged it, gasped the smoke of her half burnt desires that once was the sigh after her every failed story.
Broke loose from the moonlit vestiges that implored her to get along with the norms she's leaving behind.
And now, when she knows what it takes to reconcile the edge of her lips with her dimpled cheeks, you want her retreat?
Sorry, but she's miles ahead.
Firm and unbreakable.
-Aparajita Tripathi

I am weightless.
There is no up, no down.

My thoughts are free,
they are evolving and dissolving and revolving around other oxymoronic ideas.

My body is trapped,
it is confined, asinine, and constantly refined to what I believe,
or what I enjoy.

Why is it that every human on this Earth has to be stereotyped?
I want a world where we first ask someone how their day is going,
before texting the first person on their phone that the other person is a ****.

The only time I want to look back is to make sure no one fell behind.

We all have value and so I work down the line

Count the people by their names and not by number

See their face with all my sight one at a time every individual.

Spread kind words to each just to catch a smile and to keep lit their eyes

Embrace with abandon amongst the masses not huddled but held.

One in many we find more strength when we hold together

Cow dung
She hung
Between her legs

Dry leaves
She'd weave
Into disposable wear

Even second hand sanitization
Was considered better condition
So she ducked into the safety of unknown risks

Absorb, if it could
Wear it she would
No space for concerns, no choice

On one hand they say
Empowered today, we women, stay
On the other, stands she, in rural patches of ignorance