Life has always seemed dark
the struggles made me
lose hope in everything

After a long streak of bad luck
hope" felt like a fiction
death was always on my mind
What if I just died
escape all this tragedy

Now i can see a light
not the one at the end of the tunnel
but just a light
the one that tells me good things are supposed to happen
not meant to happen

I can't hope for anything
my hope was swept away
but i feel like the light is telling me
*God has not forsaken you

since she was 11
she knew
being abused isn't a punishment
it's a birthright

lettuce forget just for
two hours that we just
met and really you could
be anyone, and lettuce
sustain our teenage
stereotypes, nourish them
with our shared saliva
by the fire -
we are cold and soft
like snow and we are
happy to share our
lizard tongues and lizard brains,
our foolish young
emotions firework in our skulls,
ricocheting against the walls.
sparks.

earlier i watched snow drift down
the chimney,
slowly melt, while ash
was propelled back up
by hot air:
neither sustained for long
in new environments, in foreign
air;
similar up-and-down particles
which i watched while
our hot sweaty hands lay open
like flower petals,
at our sides waiting.
someone had to move
(i did),
petals clasped together and
i noticed the warmth and roughness
of your hands.

i smiled and continued
to watch the flames.

I'm quirky, I'm nerdy,
I'm short and I'm curvy,
I always feel a little chilly;
is that just me?

My voice always cracks,
my homework sometimes stacks,
I don't dot every i or cross every t;
is that just me?

I cry when I'm happy,
my clothes are a little shabby,
my bedroom isn't always clean;
is that just me?

My books are a bit battered,
my thoughts are scattered,
I sing off key;
is that just me?

I stutter when I talk,
there's always a limp in my walk,
I laugh so hard I can't breathe;
is that just me?

Sometimes I feel like I'm not enough,
but I have friends who show their love,
my life is like a happy dream;
is that just me?

I like to hold people's hands,
and cuddle in football stands,
sometimes I act a little silly;
is that just me?

We might be somewhat the same,
we may even share the same name,
but no one else, I guarantee,
can be anything just like me.