From afar, I see what looks like paradise—
Is this why I paid the price?
I endured hurricanes, rainstorms, and floods;
Yet nothing, I find, is thicker than blood.

As I approach the garden,
The waterfalls turn black,
Roses wilt,
Bushes burn,
Sand dunes lie unturned.

Still, it draws me—
Like a moth to the flame,
Like a bee to the flower.

I reach for a rose,
To admire its pose,
But scarlet-red blood ****** through my fingers,
Staining my white shirt.

Is this death—or rebirth?

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Thanks for being homophobic to me
I can handle it
Thanks for the assault
I'm much stronger now
Thanks for the depression
You made me who I am
Thanks for the things you said
The things that made me feel alive

I can survive,
I'm strong

I grab onto fire hydrants
Because they feel jusy like your heart
Completely untouched
Dusty and red

I stare up at the street lights
Because they look just like your eyes
Painfully blinding
Pale and vulnerable

I scream at the cars
Because they sound just like your words
Ridiculously loud
Rusty and metallic

I lick all the glass buildings
Because they taste just like your kiss
Chillingly artificial
Transparent and busy

I linger with the tradesman
Because they smell like your tension
Deathly anxious
Uptight and stuffy

you stole my light
when i told you to stop
and you ignored my red light
and kept going
like my body was undiscovered land
and you were a colonizer.
perhaps my asking you to stop
turned you on
made you hungry.
you looked at me with your hungry eyes
like i was fresh meat
for you to take and have for yourself
ignoring my stop signs
cries
screams
because i am nothing more
than an object to you
made for your manipulation and pleasures.

You see my brown skin
And assume I'm a ****.

You see my hijab
And assume I'm a terrorist.

You see the smile on my face
And assume I'm happy.

You hear my words
And assume I'm okay.

But I am not.

Instead I am broken.
Yet I am also strong.

I am dark and rule-following.
I am peaceful and Muslim.

You assume based on
Society's POV.

If you smile
You must be happy.

Fox, CNN, any media
Tells you I am a terrorist.
So the names I get called
And the extra security checks
Are extremely upsetting.

The murders of black folk
Is either considered appropriate
Or it's "black on black crime"
So it's not taken seriously.

Who are you gonna believe
Me or those who don't know me?