I am a woman.
I was born uniquely me.
Maybe I'm too short, too weird, too smart,
have too large of a hand, **** or heart
Maybe I'm inconsiderate, selfish, or blue,
have plenty of contradictions or I'm not always true
but everything that I am, everything that I do is me.
I am not a toy nor gadget.
My body's not a temple nor Play-Doh.
I am no Barbie. I am no Mrs. Potatohead.
I am me.
A person that loves and is loved back.
**Purely me.

I don't know why
I even try to fly
when the world keeps
clipping my wings.

I shivered as I walk down the street
in my heaviest winter coat.
My teeth chattered noisily as I walked past
a young man in a wool coat.
Not thinking, I rushed past him,
but he took my hand.
Stopping dead in my tracks,
I gave him a dumbfounded look.
He asked, "May I escort you to your destination?"
Too awestruck by the man's question, I choked out a "sure."
I didn't even know this man, yet I realized something.
Chivalry is not dead and neither am I.

We should be **love.

"Did you see that girl over there?
She, like, totally had that boy on a leash."

Now tell me, brainy poets of Hello Poetry,
if this quote appears to be spoken by an intelligent person.
With the addition of the word "like,"
we transform our normal sentences
into a garbage heap of plastic Barbie doll
splatter.
Even the emphasis changes from "totally" to "like!"

Also, that little brainfart before the adjective needs to stop happening!
We are already a culture developing that
grand pause that is present in great pieces of music.
The problem is, that grand pause is in
EVERY SENTENCE!

So next time you say "like" in a sentence,
*make sure it's a simile.

My sweet teenager,
life makes you grow up so fast.
There are so many things
that you have yet to learn.
Rest your head on your desk presently.
For right now,
the world rests on you.

I find it funny how
Tolstoy rhymes with toy
and Delstoyevsky rhymes with **tea.

Your absence is like
gears grinding together
creating sparks
that dance to the ground.
It is the dissonance
of a chord on repeat
with no resolution
and the subwoofer
in a car on full blast
trying to mess with
the rhythms of my heart.

Exclusion is  **bullying.

Drop all the expectations
and just be yourself.
Realize the consequences
but recognize who you truly are
on the inside.

I am fire.
The passion within me
sizzles and pops.
while I stay
calm and collected
on the outside.

I'm heated and feisty.
Nobody wins my arguments
except me.
Lava flows through my fingertips.

I am warm.
Hug me tender and long.
My heat is rejuvenating, my dear.
Just don't anger me.
Nobody likes a charred soul.

In our darkest times of need,
the last thing want in our lives is greed.

I guess some people aren't
my cup of tea.
We could never have deep
conversations or inside jokes.
You know I like inside jokes.

We would never see anything
but ourselves, lonely and afraid
of hurting the other person.
I can't be afraid of you.

We would never have that spark.
There would always be a
grand pause where the fortissimo
should have been.

I guess some people aren't
my cup of tea.
I'm also glad that those people
stay that way.

Like a scientist in his lab
and an artist at his easel,
singing feels so natural to me.
Shaped phrases and the building crescendos
swirl into a cacophony of sound
that gives me euphoria.
The blending and bending of harmonious voices
call out to me saying,
"This is passion."
I will never stray from this passion of mine.
Never *ever.

Have you ever thought about
tight-rope-walking in a storm?
The wind whistling through your hair
making you constantly check your balance
until you become so paranoid that you fall?
It's the same with life.
When you fall,
you sure as hell better be getting back up again.

Let it flow
like rainwater gushing
out of a drainage pipe.

Let it go
like a doves being released
into the clear, azure sky.

Let it be
like leaning back
into a roped hammock
overlooking the wide, boundless ocean.

Let it free**
like exploring
new-found curiosity
for the world around you.

There's just something about
reading in Spanish
that makes me feel alive.

Sólo hay algo sobre
leer en Español
que me hace sentir vivo.

Let my lips kiss away the hate that once spewed from your mouth.
Let them restore the chewed and dried pieces of your lips to soft and pliable.
Let my lips celebrate the smiles and commiserate the frowns.
Let me learn about the stories you once told and the songs you once sung.

I have concluded that
the only way to buy real food is
to flee the country.

I am driven to madness
by your charm.
Your face when you respond
to my text messages is priceless.
I miss those hugs where your
glorious smell permeated my body.
I don't feel anything wrong with this except

you don't feel the same.

Those words cut me deeper than
a rusty nail plunging into someone's foot.

I now know the truth.
It has been inside me all along
but I haven't realized it until now.

I say unto you,
love is the answer.
All you ever need
is love.
It connects us all
to one another.

Immorality is out there
Hatred, greed, selfishness, violence
but you need to understand that love
is more powerful, more radiant
than any act of terror,
so smile at a stranger.
Comfort those in need,
for we are all called to be givers
of this force we call love.

Love** is my religion.

I can't stand the phrase,
"I'm fine." because
somewhere down the line
someone hurt you.

Fine is inadequate
to whatever you are feeling inside.
Default answers
bring up more questions
than *answers.

I am not a phone.
Do not put me on silent.

How can principals say,
"It's important that you are in school,"
when they give us numerous half-days and excuses to stay out of school?

Discrimination
is an elevator that only
                                goes
                                down.