"Who may you be?" words laced with leer.
'I'm a baby tomato; it's my first day here.'
"Why are you here?" condescension is key.
'I don't quite know; existence was ****** upon me.'
"And where are you headed, puny one?"
'I'm going to make my way towards the Sun.'
"What, then, if thou weres't to burn?"
'I'd stand tall; not so much as turn.'
"With this arrogance, you shall not survive.
Be like the others and venture not to strive."
The impressionable little tomato did blush, red-hued.
Seeds of ambition crushed even before they were strew'd.
"And who may you be..." the voice moves on.
A familiar epilogue- society had won.

When I was in her shoes,
somewhat,
I could be injured by any word,
anything.
If only they could feel what I feel.

I forget what I felt.
I have only cultivated a hard shell,
as I dole out
negativity.

Confidence from self-assurance
Reassuring myself, ignoring disturbance
Pushing my feelings back, bottling them up
Ready to burst, to pop my top

An excuse to amuse
To use and abuse
All in the name of happiness
Suppressing my loneliness

Loner I am, I walk a lonely road
Yeah sure, only one I've ever known
Green day fan, not knowing where I'll go
But this is home to me so I walk alone

Destined to solitude
Friends come and friends go
Betrayal, distance or another path
Sure, I'm all alone, and I walk this road

It's filled with potholes, hills and unknown bumps
But no matter the state of disrepair, I only see crows
Some say I'm unique, different, one-of-a-kind
And where I'm going, nobody knows

I cause happiness on sight, and hatred sometimes
But I push on, negativity left behind
Sometimes it catches up, pulls me down
And whispers in my head, the only sound

The only thing constantly with me

As I walk down this dark alley
No sign of the end, no sights to see
Just voices, hatred, laughter and footsteps
Firmly fixed to a road unknown, firmly set

As I walk alone

i am the ocean
constantly flowing and ebbing,
from high to low
deep to shallow.
I can keep things afloat
yet drown them till they break
under my pressure.
i am the ocean.
beautiful
yet
deadly.

My mind tells me lies
It jumps to conclusions
Spits out so much negativity most would be disdained.

I try to reign it in
To ensure it doesn't win

But sometimes the thoughts seem so true
It feels like it's mud I'm trying to wade through.

I have to fight every single negative inclination
Be strong and fierce.

To not give into the poisonous thoughts
Like daggers, my mind they attempt to pierce.

This man in the mirror, who is he?
I stare and stare, but I don’t see me,
I don’t see happiness, joy, success,
I see a failure, a wreck, a mess!

This feeble being, this waste of space,
He looks familiar, we share a face,
How dare he try to look like me,
This can’t be right, just let me be!

This reflection I see, is this who I am?
A worthless being?  A total sham?
Has my life boiled down to this?
A failure staring into the abyss?

I must stay focused, I must stay strong,
This coward in the mirror, just doesn’t belong,
But he just stares back, eyes filled with hate,
As if his will, he wishes to sate.

This man I see, the enemy within,
His role it seems, send me to ruin,
I can’t back down, I must fight back,
To get this worthless life back on track.

I must show strength, I’ll stand and fight,
To find my way in this darkest night,
This face is mine, let the battle begin,
This reflection I see, this bitter man, I’ll start with him!

© Cinco Espiritus Creation

She finishes writing the test
Thankful her anxious brain can rest

But the test isn't actually done,
As students discuss the answers to number one.

They compare solutions,
go over the questions they found tough,
The girl wishes she could plug her ears,
But the students haven't had enough.

As they talk they realize they got some wrong,
But take it lightly in stride,
They do not know that if the girl joined in,
it'd crush her soul and pride.

Because it starts the criticism rolling,
Bashes her left and right,
"How could you get such an easy question wrong?
You're anything but bright"

"Try harder next time,
come on, I'm sure you can do better.
You need to do well, idiot,
A is the golden letter"

Others wonder why she doesn't join in
On the post-test debates,
If only they knew the anxiety and sadness it brought her,
Her mind, how it self-berates.

The girl is working to quiet the noise,
To silence the negative notions,
But until then don't discuss too much in her presence,
Step by step, she's setting positivity in motion.