These paths we create
Understood by some
To others
Fate

Lead us on roads we don't know
Forever guessing
Born
Glow

In the end I'll pick faith
In human kindness
Love
Grace

And forever turn my back
On the things
That bled
Me

She never
Answers
But it's just to
Remind her
That I still
Care
About her

I know we grow up on
The backs of
Our mothers and fathers
Our hearts containing
The fire and love
Of thousands before us
Those who struggle
To be even stronger
Are the lights that guides us
When everything
Is thrown into chaos

It touches my lips
And I go under
Like rolling thunder

I take a deep breath
And try to escape
How I feel the next day

Certain American cities are said
To be on the rise
While others at the same time
Decay into their own demise
Those that prosper are being told
You must grow!
You must accommodate the influx of capital
Even if some must go
To those who are priced out
Evicted or displaced
The powers that be simply could not care
That you miss your grandma's face
The solution they say
Is to build to meet demand
No matter that this fills the pockets
Of those who rigged the scam
If supply is the problem
That is not meeting demand
Then why are the two densest cities in the States
The most expensive to live in

When I first came in
I was a little scrawny
Not the type of day
That would shine light
Until I met you
And noticed your desire
Then I hit the gym
Push push push
Tried to emit
What I sought to imitate
For your own sake
I thought I could satiate
I sure was consumed
Muscle n all
Spit back out
Licking my paws
Now I'm stuck
Sweatbands and tearglands
Inflated
Defeated

If life is the poison
**** is the antidote
I feel it flowing through my body
Cut it open like a cannibal
Gut it with my finger
Grind the pound of flesh
Sew it back up
Take it to the head

I danced in the sun
So long I got burned
I slunk into the shade
As night overtook day
My features blurred
Obscured by the dark
I crawled to the switch
And pulled out the wires

Taken for granted
Grant your last wish
That every time you think of me
I will be around
Friends, family, work
No one respects what you give
All taken up
Everything left in a sloppy mess
They roll you out like the mat
Expecting you to be pristine
Willing to get walked on
While you smile back
Take me for granted
And I will grant you one wish
You will be all on your own
When I'm gone
When you're the glue
They take you for granted
When you're the light
They forget the darkness
What's the point of a smiling face
Too eager to please
If you were gone they would forget
Take you for granted lack of respect

No more
Wasted breath
No more
Hidden messages
This what I think
This what I feel
My body like fire
Burn burn burn

**** your east coast weather
And your east coast snow
You were hot like the summer
Until you turned cold
As a matter of fact
You were never that dope
**** peppy cheerleaders
And **** your SO
Calling me up
On my cellular phone
Asking when I’m around
And if I’ll be home
Travel all this way
Pretend you’re alone
You left the Bay
Now you’re giving him dome

Who terror
Rises up with the flag
Claiming a land of their own
Gun in pocket hate in their heart

Who terror
The man with a job
Trying to get by
Snatched up by Patriot Act lies

Who terror
Razes churches with bells ringing
Hate speech home page
Wants slavery and return of the KKK

Who terror
A different religion
A different color
A different way

I wait standing outside
You buzz me in
Walking up four flights of stairs
I catch my breath at your door
Talking clumsily
We end up at the piano
You pull the seat out
And start to play
Sitting there
I stare
My breath smells like alcohol
The air like ****
Yet the thing that makes my mind race
Is the sound your fingers make

The most beautiful part
Can be the things we don't see
Those things we can't touch
And will never know about
The story behind the painting
The meaning behind the words
A life exists in every creation
A life of its own for others to perceive

It was the most beautiful thing
He had never seen
Four corners
Sharp in appearance
Staring back
He blinked
And it blinked
He let out a long breath
Fogging the vision
Wiping it away
He smiled
The most beautiful thing
He'd never seen
His reflection

The best part about mumbling is that you can make best friends really easily – You always meet people that tell you to speak up because they say they can’t hear you – But then one day you meet someone that hears everything you say – And you become best friends instantly

Meaning style and depth
In lines that don't seem very deep
In length we sputter
At length we stumble
In short we succeed
In what only needs to be said
Yet says much more

The City in the abstract
People are fearful
The night, the dice
The vice, the crime
Come here and see
We live and bleed
On the streets
For each other
For each of the others
Kept out of the burbs
During the time of GI's

Now that the bleached
From the burbs are moving
They try and run us out
Try to clean the streets
With words of hate
Eyes of division
Tastes too expensive for
Us others
They claim the remedy
To clean these streets
For their pleasing

But please I beg you
Don't you see
These streets were never meant
For you
They were never meant
To be clean

What happened

Friends fallen off
Relationships uncommitted
Family moved away

I guess it's so

In fall leaves come off
In winter things turn to ice
In summer hibernation ends

The heart is pure
Containing the love
It is born with

As time passes
The mind is distanced
From the heart

The body grows
Distorts and contorts
Moving further from the heart

It is the truth that reconnects
The person to the heart
For them and others

When someone
In charge
Tells your coworker
That they laugh too much
And to stop laughing
So much
Then it’s time
To run
For dear life

The things we don't remember
Are the things we care to forget
But who makes that choice
And why
The things we spin our wheels on
And others that don't have a chance
Who is the dj
Playing these songs on repeat?

The child walked
About the city
Scouring its streets
Without a care
Popping in and out
Darting about
Dancing through
Until there it was
A green stone
Shaped like an egg
With a single thunderbolt
Striking through the middle
The child
Curious
Circled the stone
But before long temptation overcame
The child pounced upon the stone
Holding it close
Examining its details
Until there was a flash of light
The area exploded in white and blue
The child lost consciousness
As the soul drifted above the body
And with a bang the light disappeared
Awakening the body lay on the street
The soul had re-entered
But the person was not the same
There was a spark inside not felt before
Scared the thing darted away
In and out of alleys
Something felt different
There was something building inside
The thing was becoming sad now lost in the city
A place once familiar but now seeming foreign
It ran to the outskirts
The sky getting darker
Finding a lake the thing peered in
With a howl it recoiled back
What had it become
What was staring back
Confused, angry, and sad
It could take it no more
The charge built to a head
A tremendous thunderbolt lit the sky over the city
On that day the transformation had occurred
The reflection of the jagged yellow fur sparkled in the moonlight
There was no return to the life that had once passed
Jolteon was born

Let it out
Fragments of a past
Ship battered against the waves
Endlessly coming
I hold on to emotions
Lifejackets that sink you
Until I'm buried in worry
That stare pretends to care

With but one word
Castles are torn down
Destroyed in front of his eyes
Putting his delicate heart
In the hands of a father
Who pays no attention
And breaks it
What else
Gets passed down
Neither of them wants to know

She resented him
Because when he was after her
He already had a girlfriend
Ignored his calls
Stopped coming around
Years later
Passed him by
Resentment digging deep

She ran from him
Because she heard he was seeing another girl
Judgement calls made
Wanting to be the only one
Running back to the boy she was seeing
Years later
She puts on a smile
And walks by

She ignored him
Because he had too much time on his hands
To sit and think about her
No one else allowed in
She was hidden like a secret
Talk of the present and future
As intoxicated as the state of love always made
He never saw her again

Letters on a screen, pages in a book
Letting words be the guide
Words of my own, words of others
Allowing them to take the reigns
Fearing the unknown, navigating the future
Let words paint the actions
The guide that is read, the guide that is heard
Words

Authors of the Great Law of Peace
Bringing hundreds of years of peace
To a league composed of six great nations
The tenets of peace and unity confirmed in the Great Law of Peace
Were realized and studied by the founding fathers
And many ideas adopted directly into the United States Constitution

Ideas of:
Freedom of speech
Freedom of religion
Separation of powers
Checks and balances
Government of, by, and for the people
Three branches of government
Women's Council (Supreme Court)

Brought into the fold of a young budding nation
Only hoping to grasp the truth of democracy expanded by the Iroquois

Like 20 SO's
With better benefits
I know how to use my right hand
So I don't need anybody else
Except my number one
Best f r i e n d
Always by my side
Together we grow and die

More liquor stores built
Than community centers
Letting that hole
That so many have
Fill
Till they drown

Muni bus rides
I swear the sky shines bright
Lost in lustless thoughts
Struggles for a better life
Thoughts of drinks and let downs
Burning earth and deep poverty
Loss of hope and emotion
What does it take to wake up
Kept restless and dormant
I swear everyday
Everything is ******* real
Don't look away
He's got a needle in his ear
The city attacks him
The corporations mask it
The oil leaks out thick

Man it's been so long since we've hung out
Too many weeks pass my minds got doubt
It gets harder to tell what you believe in
What you sendin to hell
I just try and get in touch with you
No cell phone no phone calls
Things get confused
But here I am
Still praying for you
Still begging for you
Are you gonna return
Does the difference make a difference
Have you completely fell off
I just ask one thing
I don't care what it is
Come back in one piece

A picture says
A thousand words
I'll give two thousand
And paint a better picture

Whats left of
Love
In the city

When all the
Real people
Are pushed out

Left with stuck up
Obnoxious
Elites

More interested in
Designer jeans
Designer sheets

Than with
A heart that beats
Compassion and life

The gritty
The ugly
The poor

Are simply
In this city
No more

Whats left of love
In a place so barren
Void of life

What would happen
If my shoulders didnt support my head
If my feet let my body collapse
My knees didnt support my thighs

We need each other
The people need the people
The workers need the workers
The women need the women
People of color need people of color

Rise up before we fall

Where are the homeless politicians
The downtrodden academics
And the low-wage billionaires
In this society
?
They are living
Walked over
Everyday

Taking rage
And making something beautiful
Grasping thoughts
That bounce around the head
Pinning down
The most cherished
The most hated
Thoughts
For clarity
Penning down
All that is inside
And around us

Power
Corrupts
From the fingertips
Of predators
Comes the grip
Of oppression
Only from this tyranny
Can we ourselves
Emancipate and be emancipated
From patriarchy, capitalism, nationalism

Drag around this weight
With nowhere to drop it
Telling myself stop it
Don’t focus on your worst times
I’m just scared
For the people I love
I don’t want to slip
And crush them

You can want something
So badly
From someone else
But you cannot change
Who someone else is
This is the beauty of people
That everyone is different
It just hurts
When those close to you
Act like that difference
Is what tears you apart
Not what brings you closer

There is a pill for the symptom but not for the cause
There is an umbrella for the rain only if you have a job
There is a bottle for the hopeless but the potion does not last
There is a flower for the anxious but the bills have not passed
There is an army for the rich but not for the poor
There is a school for the brightest that only the wealthy can afford
There is food that can **** that only the starving will receive
There is a doctor that can heal that the sickest cannot see
There are stars in the sky that are blotted out at night
But the fire always burns giving a path filled with light
There is

The white man leaves his house
Some white women leave theirs
The rest wear spandex and push stroller
The Latino man comes
To build houses to paint houses
The Asian man comes
To build houses to paint houses
The Latina women comes
To take care of the kids
Some Asian men and women
Work in the laundry mat
The rest of the businesses
Owned by white people
The white man comes back
Some white women come back
And everyone else leaves

Amused with his own actions
Holding on to each of his own words
He foolishly conducts the circus
With ignorant precision
As the crowd looks on
And laughs