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"assert" poems
I'M MAKING nachos in your toaster oven. The chips fall in the pan without a problem. Beans, evenly distributed (if I do say so myself.) Salsa- good to go. Then the cheese. Generic brand shredded cheese blend. I dangle my (washed) fingers into the zip-lock bag, grab a generous pinch and rain mild cheddar down on my gourmet meal. And I feel the tears building. "No," my conscious scolds, "you will not cry over shredded cheese." I add another pinch for flavor, then another to assert dominance. I slide the pan into the tiny oven- triumphant! But the next task breaks me. I freeze when I try to adjust the heat setting. I hear your voice so clearly, like you're still calling from the next room: "you have to press the TOAST button, it cooks much faster."  The tears start to roll. I think about how excited you were when cheese bubbled perfectly- "just a little brown, ever so slightly crispy." We would joke about your persnickety preferences, likely a product of your superior taste. Of course, you would have appreciated anything I made for you, but it was always better when the dish matched the idea in your head...when I made it like you would have made it (if you were only well enough to cook for yourself again.) In the present, I poke the TOAST button and flee the kitchen as to not cry in front of the smothered chips. I sit on the sofa and break down, gasping in childish sobs. "I miss her," I wail to an empty house. Warm tears coat my cheeks in the air-conditioned room. I feel so small. I feel so foolish for crying over stupid, little things. I feel so... so... A bell dings in the kitchen. I wipe my sleeve across my face and traipse back to the toaster. Hand into oven mitt, mitt onto pan, pan onto table. I grab the plastic tubs of sour cream and guacamole from the fridge and a spoon from the drawer that sticks a little when you try to open it. I pick the non-wilted bits off the head of lettuce and rinse them under the faucet. I finish the recipe. I pull out a chair. I sit down to nachos for one.
0
Jun 4, 2018
Jun 4, 2018 at 9:57 PM UTC
Stupidest Things
I'M MAKING nachos in your toaster oven. The chips fall in the pan without a problem. Beans, evenly distributed (if I do say so myself.) Salsa- good to go. Then the cheese. Generic brand shredded cheese blend. I dangle my (washed) fingers into the zip-lock bag, grab a generous pinch and rain mild cheddar down on my gourmet meal. And I feel the tears building. "No," my conscious scolds, "you will not cry over shredded cheese." I add another pinch for flavor, then another to assert dominance. I slide the pan into the tiny oven- triumphant! But the next task breaks me. I freeze when I try to adjust the heat setting. I hear your voice so clearly, like you're still calling from the next room: "you have to press the TOAST button, it cooks much faster."  The tears start to roll. I think about how excited you were when cheese bubbled perfectly- "just a little brown, ever so slightly crispy." We would joke about your persnickety preferences, likely a product of your superior taste. Of course, you would have appreciated anything I made for you, but it was always better when the dish matched the idea in your head...when I made it like you would have made it (if you were only well enough to cook for yourself again.) In the present, I poke the TOAST button and flee the kitchen as to not cry in front of the smothered chips. I sit on the sofa and break down, gasping in childish sobs. "I miss her," I wail to an empty house. Warm tears coat my cheeks in the air-conditioned room. I feel so small. I feel so foolish for crying over stupid, little things. I feel so... so... A bell dings in the kitchen. I wipe my sleeve across my face and traipse back to the toaster. Hand into oven mitt, mitt onto pan, pan onto table. I grab the plastic tubs of sour cream and guacamole from the fridge and a spoon from the drawer that sticks a little when you try to open it. I pick the non-wilted bits off the head of lettuce and rinse them under the faucet. I finish the recipe. I pull out a chair. I sit down to nachos for one.
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1
African woman Mother of civilization. Oh beautiful woman, Thou are beyond description. African woman Queen of the people of Mamba. Jambo to all those in heaven Bless you too my dear mama. African woman Royal Nubian Queen. The backbone of her man You'll do anything to help him win. Single Black woman Made of broken pieces You're the breadwinner,Superwoman. You're the symbol of strength in all places. African woman Daughter of Eve's. Thou are God's true specimen, And the apple of his eyes. Black woman Daughter of Africa. Blueprint of a **** woman, Dark hue of coffee arabica. African woman Mother of humanity Chieftess of ancient Nyngoman, Mama Africa's bounty. African woman My Mandingo bride. First woman of Africa's Eden Center of God's black tribe. Nigerian woman My Yoruba Queen. Envied by the women of Oman, Cafe ou lair, cream of Africa's cream! Warrior woman, Queen of Wakanda. Come and flip your wand, Find the soul of Sarafina. Curvy woman In your womb lies Africa's future. My Lormah woman Oyobuays marvels at your structure. Beautiful woman, Perpetual envy of the silicon woman. Pride of the Black man, The essence of a real woman. Indigo Woman Lillies of the African plains. Thou are Eve of the African Eden, Best of the portraits that nature paints. Voluptous woman, Full, thick natural lips. Real assert of the Black woman, Nature gets aroused by your hips. Ellen Sirleaf, today's woman, Africa's first female president. A Liberian woman, Loved and revered wherever she went. Smile ,Gambian woman, You're daughter of Sarakunda. Roots of the Black American woman, Captives of the kanda Bolinga. South African woman Mariam Makeba Sang for freedom and fought like a man You were truly Soweto's finest Deva. Dark ebony woman, You are red, yellow and green. Hanmatan wind stops at your command, Born to slay and be seen. African woman Thou are the only reason God put Adam in a coma. Your perpetual beauty transcends time and Season. African woman, Under your cleavage, the Nile flows And between your fingers, golden threads are woven, You are the reason Beyonce glows. Harriet Tubman, brave woman Smuggled slaves underground. She was a freed Black slave woman, Who avowed to leave no soul behind. Creative woman Maya Angelou, gifted poetess. Famous writer and a Black woman Will be remembered for her poetic prowess. Native African woman, Africa's limestone and cement. A mother, a wife, virtuous woman, Lioness and the spine of the continent. Liberian woman Roots of my poetry, you gave me life You are every woman. Your edges are sharper than the Sumarais knife. #IvanBrookspoetry© 13/8/2018
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Aug 13, 2018
Aug 13, 2018 at 4:56 AM UTC
African Woman
African woman Mother of civilization. Oh beautiful woman, Thou are beyond description. African woman Queen of the people of Mamba. Jambo to all those in heaven Bless you too my dear mama. African woman Royal Nubian Queen. The backbone of her man You'll do anything to help him win. Single Black woman Made of broken pieces You're the breadwinner,Superwoman. You're the symbol of strength in all places. African woman Daughter of Eve's. Thou are God's true specimen, And the apple of his eyes. Black woman Daughter of Africa. Blueprint of a **** woman, Dark hue of coffee arabica. African woman Mother of humanity Chieftess of ancient Nyngoman, Mama Africa's bounty. African woman My Mandingo bride. First woman of Africa's Eden Center of God's black tribe. Nigerian woman My Yoruba Queen. Envied by the women of Oman, Cafe ou lair, cream of Africa's cream! Warrior woman, Queen of Wakanda. Come and flip your wand, Find the soul of Sarafina. Curvy woman In your womb lies Africa's future. My Lormah woman Oyobuays marvels at your structure. Beautiful woman, Perpetual envy of the silicon woman. Pride of the Black man, The essence of a real woman. Indigo Woman Lillies of the African plains. Thou are Eve of the African Eden, Best of the portraits that nature paints. Voluptous woman, Full, thick natural lips. Real assert of the Black woman, Nature gets aroused by your hips. Ellen Sirleaf, today's woman, Africa's first female president. A Liberian woman, Loved and revered wherever she went. Smile ,Gambian woman, You're daughter of Sarakunda. Roots of the Black American woman, Captives of the kanda Bolinga. South African woman Mariam Makeba Sang for freedom and fought like a man You were truly Soweto's finest Deva. Dark ebony woman, You are red, yellow and green. Hanmatan wind stops at your command, Born to slay and be seen. African woman Thou are the only reason God put Adam in a coma. Your perpetual beauty transcends time and Season. African woman, Under your cleavage, the Nile flows And between your fingers, golden threads are woven, You are the reason Beyonce glows. Harriet Tubman, brave woman Smuggled slaves underground. She was a freed Black slave woman, Who avowed to leave no soul behind. Creative woman Maya Angelou, gifted poetess. Famous writer and a Black woman Will be remembered for her poetic prowess. Native African woman, Africa's limestone and cement. A mother, a wife, virtuous woman, Lioness and the spine of the continent. Liberian woman Roots of my poetry, you gave me life You are every woman. Your edges are sharper than the Sumarais knife. #IvanBrookspoetry© 13/8/2018
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98
A confident man feels not a need to speak on all things with which he does not agree Though in the proper time and place he is not afraid to assert his way And though his words at times cause spurn, he will admit when they are out of turn Fearing not the inevitable mistake, but rather owning it too late Caring and feeling without hesitation and not for reciprocal adulation Emotions are expressed appropriately; either subtlety or rationally As honest with others as with himself; recognizing what he does and doesn’t do well Claiming to know what he does know and asks when he don’t Pursuing tasks for their benefit and or joy rather than status or fleeting ploys Those latter things are often great fun, but worry of them yields none While in his mind there is good thinking, he is more occupied with good acting In order to have concerns of the ideological, requires labors that are practical On his confidence, he does not ponder, as neither he or anyone wonders of whether he truly possesses it. We know it.
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Sep 19, 2018
Sep 19, 2018 at 6:25 PM UTC
On His Confidence
for seven years i believed that i had no right to say that i had been abused because it wasn't physical, like my friend who was beat by her drunk father on a daily basis. my abuse was only on an emotional, psychological scale and while sometimes his hand slipped or gripped too tight on me, i honestly wouldn't count it as abuse. recently i began reading into this and while it's not as talked about as physical or ****** abuse it still counts and it carries over as children grow up from these experiences. even experiences that i didn't think counted as emotional abuse, from times when i was far younger than just a teenager. the abuse i've dealt with hasn't made me any stronger than i was, it's made me the exact opposite; instead of being the person i was before, bright and optimistic, i'm apologizing constantly for things i don't need to and second guessing myself and others intentions. constantly i wonder if i'm bothering someone, am i being too much of myself? am i allowed to speak? does my opinion matter? is it all right to assert myself? after being told for three years that i don't matter, and there is no point of me for existing and that it's no wonder i don't have any friends, i'm trying to break myself out of the box i've placed myself in and it's so **** hard.
0
Oct 23, 2014
Oct 23, 2014 at 2:17 AM UTC
adult children of abusive parents
If (WO)men are the ones that suffer an exacerbated amount Of the violence, the **** the abuse, and everything that comes with and from struggle and alienation; it is because of their femininity that men at times have come to believe that their contributions soften institutions. That at times throughout history neither capitalism, neoliberalism nor revolutionary experiments like that of Cuba have placed femininity as compatible with progress or resolution. In which case femininity must be hidden, silenced, or displaced with no purpose or place to belong. Thus everyone closely associated with this femininity such as homosexuals, transgendered (WO)men, and "effeminate" males, (ignoring, subverting and negating the lesbian identity because of their gender) have come to be marginalized by a structural system of exclusion. (WO)men carrying the highest burden for originating the associative distinction Homosexuals battling to find love by constantly having to assert their masculinity Transgendered (Wo)men afraid of expressing their through identity. Lesbians fighting to legitimize their own identity separate from the directives ascribed onto them by virtue of being born women. Males who are labeled effeminate because of their sympathy toward those who struggle and are alienated. And every other individual who refuses to deliver to give a marker to their identity and a degree to their femininity. Hold fast in your femininity and embrace the rancor that society grants you As a homosexual I speak with you brother and sister, not for you Realize that our self-ascribed degrees of femininity and identity are as revolutionary and transformative, and thus necessary, as those of Che Guevara, Mohammed Ali, Harriet Tubman, or the Dali Lama. That because we have decided to embrace our degrees of femininity, problematic to any movement, at one point or another, we have inadvertently decided to align our selves with those who are alienated the most by the systems in which they live. So that in this way we must make our struggles deliberate and political. Let our degrees of femininity become legitimizing banners of solidarity for anyone who suffers in any corner of the world.
0
Mar 10, 2013
Mar 10, 2013 at 12:48 AM UTC
Revolutionary Solidarity (Embracing Our Femininity)
If (WO)men are the ones that suffer an exacerbated amount Of the violence, the **** the abuse, and everything that comes with and from struggle and alienation; it is because of their femininity that men at times have come to believe that their contributions soften institutions. That at times throughout history neither capitalism, neoliberalism nor revolutionary experiments like that of Cuba have placed femininity as compatible with progress or resolution. In which case femininity must be hidden, silenced, or displaced with no purpose or place to belong. Thus everyone closely associated with this femininity such as homosexuals, transgendered (WO)men, and "effeminate" males, (ignoring, subverting and negating the lesbian identity because of their gender) have come to be marginalized by a structural system of exclusion. (WO)men carrying the highest burden for originating the associative distinction Homosexuals battling to find love by constantly having to assert their masculinity Transgendered (Wo)men afraid of expressing their through identity. Lesbians fighting to legitimize their own identity separate from the directives ascribed onto them by virtue of being born women. Males who are labeled effeminate because of their sympathy toward those who struggle and are alienated. And every other individual who refuses to deliver to give a marker to their identity and a degree to their femininity. Hold fast in your femininity and embrace the rancor that society grants you As a homosexual I speak with you brother and sister, not for you Realize that our self-ascribed degrees of femininity and identity are as revolutionary and transformative, and thus necessary, as those of Che Guevara, Mohammed Ali, Harriet Tubman, or the Dali Lama. That because we have decided to embrace our degrees of femininity, problematic to any movement, at one point or another, we have inadvertently decided to align our selves with those who are alienated the most by the systems in which they live. So that in this way we must make our struggles deliberate and political. Let our degrees of femininity become legitimizing banners of solidarity for anyone who suffers in any corner of the world.
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20
Make it through make it true Lay it bare if you dare Banish doubt make it count Look around you’ve made it there Shout it far show your scars Fill the day with twenty-four hours This is it what we’ve got Looks like **** but it’s ours You see this life filled with strife So much hurt so much pain Now you win now you lose One’s loss another’s gain It wasn’t meant to be pretty Empty towns ***** cities People all around have issues Insecure, lost and misused You can choose to stay and fight Assert yourself claim your rights Or decide to turn away Make your mark another day Showing up is half the battle Knocked down back in the saddle It’s not the wins and the losses It’s the learning it’s a process At the end of the day Stop and do the math Those who've made hay Don’t have to look back.
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May 21, 2015
May 21, 2015 at 12:38 AM UTC
Warring and Winning
Seek freedom from the anxious mind For, you have the freedom to choose Break the shackles of intimidation Claim your freedom for the sleeping madness Wake up to a world of freedom, for it’s yours Freedom for the prejudices and the dogmas Claim your freedom for the untrusting world Freedom beckons you from the deepest caverns Thwart the advances of violence, and seize freedom Do not pay heed to the abusive words As your freedom to speak up is jeopardized The weakest of hearts and minds, resort to violence And their abode inside is wrecked by loss of freedom You freedom will come when you walk out Opening the gates of your heart to freedom The weak personalities seeks to strangle freedom To dominate the beautiful souls, as they feel threatened Assert your freedom; this is becoming a puppet’s world Always made to act when the strings are pulled There is a world full of love and freedom waiting for you You just have to cross the threshold of the murky world Only you can win your freedom, if you choose to Seek freedom, and slam the door on the world of captivity © Amitav (Radiance)
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May 8, 2014
May 8, 2014 at 5:56 AM UTC
Freedom
Graffiti, Graffiti, Graffiti Being bled onto The landscapes between thighs Incarcerating women's wombs Justifying men's genes Foreigners appropriating Women's and men's sexualities Losing the power to be When changing our roles' long overdue Gendering our words and attitudes Man, who taught you to be a chauvinist! Woman, who taught you to be a ********* Don't put your god in gendered bigotry Do man's emotions feminize him? When will women freely carry torches! What gender do you assign this voice? What gender do you assign this words? Will the masses even understand these choices? Don't worry, my sexuality won't infect you Criminalizing sexuality Placing it front and center, implying that's all I am Graffiti, Graffiti, Graffiti Being bled onto The landscapes between thighs Graffiti, defiling the masses not high classes Because men and women of society Full of stride, take pride, in their gendered hyde Graffiti, defiling the masses not high classes Ignored hoods, barrios, countrysides, ghettos, projects Devouring women's and men's bodies Younger and younger people falling to HIV/AIDS and STDS Vaginas receiving the violence, wombs bringing misery LGBT youth ****** into fire Lost males (in mental chains) ****** to assert their manhoods Graffiti, Graffiti, Graffiti Full of dangerous chemicals, being sprayed onto The landscapes between thighs Attempting to legislate our stories, without warrant
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Jan 29, 2013
Jan 29, 2013 at 10:06 PM UTC
Graffiti (Between Landscapes of Thighs)
Wake Up Wretched World, I assert my Indigenous heritage I self identify With the ancestors of my continent Identity afraid to articulate Culture, unknowingly belonging to me Cycle of shame now shattered Product of love, hatred, lust, and desire europeans plundering my mother Latin America In chaos and violence, my skin's pigment Has been engineered through the mestizaje Of my Indigenous forefathers How could I not forget my lineage When the historical legacy of modernization Has been to massacre the consciousness Of where my people really come from Erasing indigenous pride Making Paisano and Indio Synonymous with poverty and alienation Insulting the humbleness State of hunger you've left us in Original lineage within me disturbed So you push me to ambiguity and embarrassment Not white, not indigenous? Pure indigenous brothers and sisters silenced Not an exploitable consumerist market, not in your campaigns Not benefactors of your philanthropic development tactics Bodies too costly to abuse, no reason to bring them Into the neoliberal multinational corporate circuit Constantly driving them off productive land Because they choose to assert their identity Live in collective communes, not owing you nothing Waiting for them to make barren lands productive So you can take those lands too Not capturing an obscure history, these are not colonial times This is the legacy of the european presence entering mother Latin America 21st century still defiling Indigenous cultures to civilize and modernize
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Mar 14, 2013
Mar 14, 2013 at 10:26 PM UTC
Indigenous (Abducted Consciousness)
Wake Up Wretched World, I assert my Indigenous heritage I self identify With the ancestors of my continent Identity afraid to articulate Culture, unknowingly belonging to me Cycle of shame now shattered Product of love, hatred, lust, and desire europeans plundering my mother Latin America In chaos and violence, my skin's pigment Has been engineered through the mestizaje Of my Indigenous forefathers How could I not forget my lineage When the historical legacy of modernization Has been to massacre the consciousness Of where my people really come from Erasing indigenous pride Making Paisano and Indio Synonymous with poverty and alienation Insulting the humbleness State of hunger you've left us in Original lineage within me disturbed So you push me to ambiguity and embarrassment Not white, not indigenous? Pure indigenous brothers and sisters silenced Not an exploitable consumerist market, not in your campaigns Not benefactors of your philanthropic development tactics Bodies too costly to abuse, no reason to bring them Into the neoliberal multinational corporate circuit Constantly driving them off productive land Because they choose to assert their identity Live in collective communes, not owing you nothing Waiting for them to make barren lands productive So you can take those lands too Not capturing an obscure history, these are not colonial times This is the legacy of the european presence entering mother Latin America 21st century still defiling Indigenous cultures to civilize and modernize
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37
Assert confidence in a convincing recital Claim certainty that protection is binding safety is paramount a rehearsed amount until she takes it on ethics every truth is there to detect A battle for reason until potential yields to the objective Loyalty isn't just imagination Fate constructed in a noiseless dialogue momentary eye contact pencil hits paper Smoke and vapor Fire comes later an unsurpassed honor All the letters weve written are a smear on the page of occasion Resulting in endless treasure Only to be rediscovered When the omission is uncovered
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May 27, 2018
May 27, 2018 at 4:41 AM UTC
Noiseless Dialouge
I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed. Inaction, no falsifying dream Between my hooked head and hooked feet: Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat. The convenience of the high trees! The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray Are of advantage to me; And the earth's face upward for my inspection. My feet are locked upon the rough bark. It took the whole of Creation To produce my foot, my each feather: Now I hold Creation in my foot Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly - I **** where I please because it is all mine. There is no sophistry in my body: My manners are tearing off heads - The allotment of death. For the one path of my flight is direct Through the bones of the living. No arguments assert my right: The sun is behind me. Nothing has changed since I began. My eye has permitted no change. I am going to keep things like this.
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5.4k
Hawk Roosting
Red flags in the beginning are easy to turn into little sticky notes, notes for later that sometimes lose their adhesive and fall to the ground much like my current tolerance for ****** dudes The first known use for red flags was by the military to indicate they’re ready for battle, unfortunately I’ve seen enough red flags to start the next world war I should’ve known When I came back from Arizona and he said “you must’ve cheated on me because your ****** feels different” Not because he’s insecure or because he doesn’t know trust or because he’s trying to assert control I should’ve known When he asked if I “had a problem getting wet because it seemed like that was a thing” Not because he doesn’t know foreplay (side note: **** doesn’t teach you foreplay) or because he doesn’t actually turn me on or because fun fact!- women can be turned on and not be wet I should’ve known When he said “if you shaved, then I’d go down on you 24/7” Not because he was scared that choking on my ***** hair reminded him he’s with a real woman that grows hair and humans inside her and ideas and opinions and strength and my body is not yours to give me ultimatums of I should’ve known When I asked if figuring out my pleasure was a burden and he answered “actually, yes it is” Not because he’s too lazy to actually want to pleasure anyone but himself or because his only ****** education ended with a .com or because no one has ever expected more of him I should’ve known when he said “What I want out of a ****** partner is someone that wants me inside of them as soon as possible” Not “inside my soul” or “inside my thoughts” or “inside my memories” or “inside an intimacy he will never know” I should’ve known when he said “Let me show you how Rachel did it” Not “this is how I like it” or “can we try this?” or “opening your ******* mind to how another human being moves around you” I should’ve known when He spit on my ****** the universal sign for disrespect Like I deserve the same fate as tobacco swollen cheeks Like my ****** is your spittoon, am I the end of a tobacco session or a fancy wine tasting? these things matter Now I find it symbolic men are taught to spit while women are taught to swallow Swallow our reactions Swallow our feelings Swallow our voices Swallow his releases Swallow his spit Swallow us whole When you see a red flag do not ignore that it means battle This battle is not a healthy one, this battle will leave you bruised Uproot this flag and take it with you to remind yourself You can lose every battle and still win the war 11/28/2016 Amanda Powell
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Jan 6, 2018
Jan 6, 2018 at 8:59 PM UTC
Red Flags
Red flags in the beginning are easy to turn into little sticky notes, notes for later that sometimes lose their adhesive and fall to the ground much like my current tolerance for ****** dudes The first known use for red flags was by the military to indicate they’re ready for battle, unfortunately I’ve seen enough red flags to start the next world war I should’ve known When I came back from Arizona and he said “you must’ve cheated on me because your ****** feels different” Not because he’s insecure or because he doesn’t know trust or because he’s trying to assert control I should’ve known When he asked if I “had a problem getting wet because it seemed like that was a thing” Not because he doesn’t know foreplay (side note: **** doesn’t teach you foreplay) or because he doesn’t actually turn me on or because fun fact!- women can be turned on and not be wet I should’ve known When he said “if you shaved, then I’d go down on you 24/7” Not because he was scared that choking on my ***** hair reminded him he’s with a real woman that grows hair and humans inside her and ideas and opinions and strength and my body is not yours to give me ultimatums of I should’ve known When I asked if figuring out my pleasure was a burden and he answered “actually, yes it is” Not because he’s too lazy to actually want to pleasure anyone but himself or because his only ****** education ended with a .com or because no one has ever expected more of him I should’ve known when he said “What I want out of a ****** partner is someone that wants me inside of them as soon as possible” Not “inside my soul” or “inside my thoughts” or “inside my memories” or “inside an intimacy he will never know” I should’ve known when he said “Let me show you how Rachel did it” Not “this is how I like it” or “can we try this?” or “opening your ******* mind to how another human being moves around you” I should’ve known when He spit on my ****** the universal sign for disrespect Like I deserve the same fate as tobacco swollen cheeks Like my ****** is your spittoon, am I the end of a tobacco session or a fancy wine tasting? these things matter Now I find it symbolic men are taught to spit while women are taught to swallow Swallow our reactions Swallow our feelings Swallow our voices Swallow his releases Swallow his spit Swallow us whole When you see a red flag do not ignore that it means battle This battle is not a healthy one, this battle will leave you bruised Uproot this flag and take it with you to remind yourself You can lose every battle and still win the war 11/28/2016 Amanda Powell
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66
Hidden star against the dark backdrop of night. Not seen... Not heard... Struggling to assert existence with waning light. Stifled are the stories dying to be told. Eclipsed are the emotions within collapses and folds. Cloaked is the voice that screams in silent anguish. Disenchanted is the will that once spoke of flourish. I see you black star... Know that... You're nearer than far. Dig deep...               Past the charred, crumbling skin. Dig deep...           Into the beating heart within. Know that... You're better than any of them. Any of us. Time will only reveal, what the sky sought to despicably conceal. Your true calling. Not as the quiet sentinel that no one sees... but a cosmic gem.
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Sep 9, 2015
Sep 9, 2015 at 12:41 AM UTC
Black Star
You are Great Never forget that. I’m telling you You are unique A DNA Lottery win. You Exist Are Conscious Sentient And so much more. A Wonder. Incredible. Every bit, you are, of all these things As Royalty Presidents Or any Power Figure You care to name. By all means be polite To Kings and Queens And figures of Authority. But always know Within yourself That You are The One. For You are the only one That lives Your Life And that’s the only fact That Counts. Give due deference to those in power If only to preserve yourself For your survival is The only thing that matters. Esteem yourself For you are wonderful Assert yourself For you’re the only one Who is I. Paul Butters
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Jan 13, 2016
Jan 13, 2016 at 6:16 PM UTC
You are Great
You see this building? I built this building. But nobody knows that I built this building. I can only assert that I did build this building, and refresh my own memory of building said building. But at the end of the day, it's just an old building. And ironically enough, I've never stopped building. There are a few other people who helped build this building. Like myself they can say that they did build this building. And even if all of our name were there on an engraving, it would never truly be anyone's personal building. Because we built it for those, so that they could start building. So that they could get going and build their buildings. Because the framework we built was a structure of learning. And we each taught ourselves through the process of learning.
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Jul 15, 2016
Jul 15, 2016 at 11:57 AM UTC
That Which I Built
(Rock Lake, Canada) In this country there is neither measure nor balance To redress the dominance of rocks and woods, The passage, say, of these man-shaming clouds. No gesture of yours or mine could catch their attention, No word make them carry water or fire the kindling Like local trolls in the spell of a superior being. Well, one wearies of the Public Gardens: one wants a vacation Where trees and clouds and animals pay no notice; Away from the labeled elms, the tame tea-roses. It took three days driving north to find a cloud The polite skies over Boston couldn't possibly accommodate. Here on the last frontier of the big, brash spirit The horizons are too far off to be chummy as uncles; The colors assert themselves with a sort of vengeance. Each day concludes in a huge splurge of vermilions And night arrives in one gigantic step. It is comfortable, for a change, to mean so little. These rocks offer no purchase to herbage or people: They are conceiving a dynasty of perfect cold. In a month we'll wonder what plates and forks are for. I lean to you, numb as a fossil. Tell me I'm here. The Pilgrims and Indians might never have happened. Planets pulse in the lake like bright amoebas; The pines blot our voices up in their lightest sighs. Around our tent the old simplicities sough Sleepily as Lethe, trying to get in. We'll wake blank-brained as water in the dawn.
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3.8k
Two Campers In Cloud Country
Anthropos apteros for days Walked whistling round and round the Maze, Relying happily upon His temperment for getting on. The hundredth time he sighted, though, A bush he left an hour ago, He halted where four alleys crossed, And recognized that he was lost. "Where am I?" Metaphysics says No question can be asked unless It has an answer, so I can Assume this maze has got a plan. If theologians are correct, A Plan implies an Architect: A God-built maze would be, I'm sure, The Universe in minature. Are data from the world of Sense, In that case, valid evidence? What in the universe I know Can give directions how to go? All Mathematics would suggest A steady straight line as the best, But left and right alternately Is consonant with History. Aesthetics, though, believes all Art Intends to gratify the heart: Rejecting disciplines like these, Must I, then, go which way I please? Such reasoning is only true If we accept the classic view, Which we have no right to assert, According to the Introvert. His absolute pre-supposition Is - Man creates his own condition: This maze was not divinely built, But is secreted by my guilt. The centre that I cannot find Is known to my unconscious Mind; I have no reason to despair Because I am already there. My problem is how not to will; They move most quickly who stand still; I'm only lost until I see I'm lost because I want to be. If this should fail, perhaps I should, As certain educators would, Content myself with the conclusion; In theory there is no solution. All statements about what I feel, Like I-am-lost, are quite unreal: My knowledge ends where it began; A hedge is taller than a man." Anthropos apteros, perplexed To know which turning to take next, Looked up and wished he were a bird To whom such doubts must seem absurd.
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3.5k
The Labyrinth
Anthropos apteros for days Walked whistling round and round the Maze, Relying happily upon His temperment for getting on. The hundredth time he sighted, though, A bush he left an hour ago, He halted where four alleys crossed, And recognized that he was lost. "Where am I?" Metaphysics says No question can be asked unless It has an answer, so I can Assume this maze has got a plan. If theologians are correct, A Plan implies an Architect: A God-built maze would be, I'm sure, The Universe in minature. Are data from the world of Sense, In that case, valid evidence? What in the universe I know Can give directions how to go? All Mathematics would suggest A steady straight line as the best, But left and right alternately Is consonant with History. Aesthetics, though, believes all Art Intends to gratify the heart: Rejecting disciplines like these, Must I, then, go which way I please? Such reasoning is only true If we accept the classic view, Which we have no right to assert, According to the Introvert. His absolute pre-supposition Is - Man creates his own condition: This maze was not divinely built, But is secreted by my guilt. The centre that I cannot find Is known to my unconscious Mind; I have no reason to despair Because I am already there. My problem is how not to will; They move most quickly who stand still; I'm only lost until I see I'm lost because I want to be. If this should fail, perhaps I should, As certain educators would, Content myself with the conclusion; In theory there is no solution. All statements about what I feel, Like I-am-lost, are quite unreal: My knowledge ends where it began; A hedge is taller than a man." Anthropos apteros, perplexed To know which turning to take next, Looked up and wished he were a bird To whom such doubts must seem absurd.
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56
Does it make you feel powerful to tell me that I do not own my body? Do you get satisfaction from looking down on me from the pedestal you’ve clawed and crawled your way onto? Tell me, does it make you feel good to threaten me with words that come out of your mouth so empty but land on my shoulders so heavy Tell me, do you get high from the nauseous look in her eyes as she meets yours, slowly trespassing along her body? Does it sound like music to hear the tremble in her voice, look like art to see her to resent her femininity, feel like silk to touch what you have no business touching? Tell me what it is. Tell me what you think you can get from me, what it is you think I owe you. Tell me that it is necessary, justify your theft – Do you feed off of dehumanization, can you pocket the profit from her sense of security, shelter yourself with their rights, their body, their life? Where did you learn to value your impulses over her innocence? Where did you learn to assert yourself where you do not belong? Where did you learn to rip a woman apart piece by piece starting with her dignity and ending with her self-worth? Tell me, what does it feel like to own your body?
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Jul 17, 2015
Jul 17, 2015 at 5:29 PM UTC
Tell Me (personal thoughts at 9 am)
Mother Nature rules the World, And probably The whole Universe. Our Earth, a planet blue, Just teems with Life. Even deep beneath the ocean, Amongst those geysers, Oh so Hot, You will find Life. Lakes filled with acid, Bone –dry deserts (look underground), Solid sheets of ice: They all are home-sweet-home To bacteria Or Viruses, At the very least. We bomb those cities to piles of rubble, And poison the Earth with God knows what, Yet always, given time, Life will re-assert itself: That sprig of couch-grass, Those flowers. Mother Nature never does give in. Life springs eternal. From amoeba to a dancing dolphin. So utterly determined To survive. Clinging to existence Like a limpet on a rock. Invincible in Her tenacity. Paul Butters
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Sep 11, 2012
Sep 11, 2012 at 6:43 AM UTC
Mother Nature
Oh! pleasant exercise of hope and joy! For mighty were the auxiliars which then stood Upon our side, we who were strong in love! Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!—Oh! times, In which the meagre, stale, forbidding ways Of custom, law, and statute, took at once The attraction of a country in romance! When Reason seemed the most to assert her rights, When most intent on making of herself A prime Enchantress—to assist the work Which then was going forward in her name! Not favoured spots alone, but the whole earth, The beauty wore of promise, that which sets (As at some moment might not be unfelt Among the bowers of paradise itself ) The budding rose above the rose full blown. What temper at the prospect did not wake To happiness unthought of? The inert Were roused, and lively natures rapt away! They who had fed their childhood upon dreams, The playfellows of fancy, who had made All powers of swiftness, subtilty, and strength Their ministers,—who in lordly wise had stirred Among the grandest objects of the sense, And dealt with whatsoever they found there As if they had within some lurking right To wield it;—they, too, who, of gentle mood, Had watched all gentle motions, and to these Had fitted their own thoughts, schemers more wild, And in the region of their peaceful selves;— Now was it that both found, the meek and lofty Did both find, helpers to their heart’s desire, And stuff at hand, plastic as they could wish; Wcre called upon to exercise their skill, Not in Utopia, subterranean fields, Or some secreted island, Heaven knows where! But in the very world, which is the world Of all of us,—the place where in the end We find our happiness, or not at all!
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2.9k
The French Revolution As It Appeared To Enthusiasts At Its Commencement
Oh! pleasant exercise of hope and joy! For mighty were the auxiliars which then stood Upon our side, we who were strong in love! Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!—Oh! times, In which the meagre, stale, forbidding ways Of custom, law, and statute, took at once The attraction of a country in romance! When Reason seemed the most to assert her rights, When most intent on making of herself A prime Enchantress—to assist the work Which then was going forward in her name! Not favoured spots alone, but the whole earth, The beauty wore of promise, that which sets (As at some moment might not be unfelt Among the bowers of paradise itself ) The budding rose above the rose full blown. What temper at the prospect did not wake To happiness unthought of? The inert Were roused, and lively natures rapt away! They who had fed their childhood upon dreams, The playfellows of fancy, who had made All powers of swiftness, subtilty, and strength Their ministers,—who in lordly wise had stirred Among the grandest objects of the sense, And dealt with whatsoever they found there As if they had within some lurking right To wield it;—they, too, who, of gentle mood, Had watched all gentle motions, and to these Had fitted their own thoughts, schemers more wild, And in the region of their peaceful selves;— Now was it that both found, the meek and lofty Did both find, helpers to their heart’s desire, And stuff at hand, plastic as they could wish; Wcre called upon to exercise their skill, Not in Utopia, subterranean fields, Or some secreted island, Heaven knows where! But in the very world, which is the world Of all of us,—the place where in the end We find our happiness, or not at all!
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40
This cosmos, indisputably, a sheer wonder We cannot but bow before its grandeur To what strange terrains opens its doors And what secrets, hidden beneath the stars From the merciless emptiness sans light, From the deep silence of the horrendous night, Was heard the bang of hammers On the anvils of eons like thundering fire crackers Abruptly through a gas cloud burst of inexorable force Life emerged from stardust, our energy source This is what the exponents of Big Bang assert Life, from cosmic egg was hatched, some others purport No doubt, this universe is an infinite stretch of lattice Woven in the loom through billions of years by gratis Where myriad wonders exist in the intergalactic space And man has been on relentless effort to trace their course As the wheels turned and as the fires burned Through cosmic vapor the first atom was churned How, over the eons, life here has flourished With man’s wisdom and efforts nourished! Galaxies are scattered in infinite space And our planet Earth is well balanced in place After the day’s vigil, when the mighty sun sets The stars invariably take over on their night shifts Multitudinous stars glitter and twinkle, a wondrous sight As branching chandeliers, shedding luminous light They are gems donning the night sky with their splendor Where meteors dash and star light dances in nebulous glare Some extra terrestrial hand has set the Earth in tune And everything needed to hold life is benevolently strewn Through countless dawns and sunset Endless generations did come and beget  Just as this universe was born, it would one day die With all the planets, stars and starlets of the sky Who can predict how it is going to end With a bang or whimper, or is the end impend?
0
Jul 3, 2014
Jul 3, 2014 at 3:44 AM UTC
Cosmic Wonder
This cosmos, indisputably, a sheer wonder We cannot but bow before its grandeur To what strange terrains opens its doors And what secrets, hidden beneath the stars From the merciless emptiness sans light, From the deep silence of the horrendous night, Was heard the bang of hammers On the anvils of eons like thundering fire crackers Abruptly through a gas cloud burst of inexorable force Life emerged from stardust, our energy source This is what the exponents of Big Bang assert Life, from cosmic egg was hatched, some others purport No doubt, this universe is an infinite stretch of lattice Woven in the loom through billions of years by gratis Where myriad wonders exist in the intergalactic space And man has been on relentless effort to trace their course As the wheels turned and as the fires burned Through cosmic vapor the first atom was churned How, over the eons, life here has flourished With man’s wisdom and efforts nourished! Galaxies are scattered in infinite space And our planet Earth is well balanced in place After the day’s vigil, when the mighty sun sets The stars invariably take over on their night shifts Multitudinous stars glitter and twinkle, a wondrous sight As branching chandeliers, shedding luminous light They are gems donning the night sky with their splendor Where meteors dash and star light dances in nebulous glare Some extra terrestrial hand has set the Earth in tune And everything needed to hold life is benevolently strewn Through countless dawns and sunset Endless generations did come and beget  Just as this universe was born, it would one day die With all the planets, stars and starlets of the sky Who can predict how it is going to end With a bang or whimper, or is the end impend?
Continue reading...
36
A man poses at a dimly lit table, a light hangs directly overhead with a cobweb ribbon-wrapped around the steel wire escaping the ceiling. An inverted roulette table, a man betting against the house: It is always this way. Light flickers, flipped on, and off, and on, without a switch with which to assert control. He is alone in the squeaking chair, sipping tea and dipping his crumb-covered hands into the napkin-covered basket of water crackers and salted peanuts. Sitting, he poses for practice, but for now, he practices for no one. The house is empty. In the back of his mind, there is no worry of what one will find upon entering the kitchen: A scarecrow at a table, full of straw and teeth dulled down from night grinding, sitting in, what could be mistaken as, a pensive position. The scavenger hand makes him look wanting. It's partner is propped on chin, accompanied by his half-sculpted smile and the dark-light contrast of his hair and eyes with yellow shining off of his two front teeth. The color is not the fault of stumbling home too late to care for the mouth, but of the old incandescent staring him down and the obsessively clean, marble surface at which he puckers his face. A tapping in the hall stirs his bones and his body darts up. A crow, it seems, with small grey beak has wandered in from the overgrown fields, the fields that haven't been tended to since this boy began taking himself too seriously. The both of them with stilts for legs and no breeze of running feet from scream to sway the pair of pairs. Their eyes connect and neither moves. Who should place the first bet, black or red, and who will set the ball in motion? The light goes off. Denoument is a bad time for a bulb to die. As calm as a hand with razorblade against skin, the scarecrow sits down once again and poses. The bird observes his motion, calls, and waits, but the man moves no more, overjoyed with an invisible audience, a full stomach.
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Aug 16, 2012
Aug 16, 2012 at 3:05 AM UTC
The Nighttime Scarecrow
A man poses at a dimly lit table, a light hangs directly overhead with a cobweb ribbon-wrapped around the steel wire escaping the ceiling. An inverted roulette table, a man betting against the house: It is always this way. Light flickers, flipped on, and off, and on, without a switch with which to assert control. He is alone in the squeaking chair, sipping tea and dipping his crumb-covered hands into the napkin-covered basket of water crackers and salted peanuts. Sitting, he poses for practice, but for now, he practices for no one. The house is empty. In the back of his mind, there is no worry of what one will find upon entering the kitchen: A scarecrow at a table, full of straw and teeth dulled down from night grinding, sitting in, what could be mistaken as, a pensive position. The scavenger hand makes him look wanting. It's partner is propped on chin, accompanied by his half-sculpted smile and the dark-light contrast of his hair and eyes with yellow shining off of his two front teeth. The color is not the fault of stumbling home too late to care for the mouth, but of the old incandescent staring him down and the obsessively clean, marble surface at which he puckers his face. A tapping in the hall stirs his bones and his body darts up. A crow, it seems, with small grey beak has wandered in from the overgrown fields, the fields that haven't been tended to since this boy began taking himself too seriously. The both of them with stilts for legs and no breeze of running feet from scream to sway the pair of pairs. Their eyes connect and neither moves. Who should place the first bet, black or red, and who will set the ball in motion? The light goes off. Denoument is a bad time for a bulb to die. As calm as a hand with razorblade against skin, the scarecrow sits down once again and poses. The bird observes his motion, calls, and waits, but the man moves no more, overjoyed with an invisible audience, a full stomach.
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60
In the midst of sea, we scream Where are humans? Where are super humans? None to respond to our desperate scream, In the midst of a sea, we are A deserted island One that can most likely be submerged or Reach shores unlikely By the events, we remain helpless Being human less and with inhumanness We, at the brink of death & last inch of hope Expect miracles and wonders Nature fails us Kills our expectations, fills more sorrow Nature fills our body with Slow approaching death, We remain as a secluded mass of useless disposed waste, On a world that has a place for all the flora & fauna Modern nations-the epitomes of peace Wash their hands away remain A hopeless, useless, helpless puppet Ostracized from our ancestral land Vehemently opposed and reluctantly accepted We remain a displaced alien In their eyes. There are nations, But where are humans? Where are humans? A hope puts us to survive, Where we leave a message, As we get back to the graves. We send the waves of final message; we fall, Not as a disposed waste, But as a Phoenix that falls as a nutrition, For the soil, To revive an infinite and eternal humanity That stands tall as an undestroyable banyan tree Unshakable on any crises For humanity, we give ourselves As dare-doers and daring self-killers. Let's harvest the human hearts With the ever rising flames And give back Our future generations the homes. We lost and dreams we wished With a thin ray of distant hope, We dream to give our future generations A world that has no, Hopelessness of being helpless. We assert We are helpless, but not hopeless
0
Sep 24, 2018
Sep 24, 2018 at 1:17 AM UTC
Unheard and Unfaded voice of a disappearing island
In the midst of sea, we scream Where are humans? Where are super humans? None to respond to our desperate scream, In the midst of a sea, we are A deserted island One that can most likely be submerged or Reach shores unlikely By the events, we remain helpless Being human less and with inhumanness We, at the brink of death & last inch of hope Expect miracles and wonders Nature fails us Kills our expectations, fills more sorrow Nature fills our body with Slow approaching death, We remain as a secluded mass of useless disposed waste, On a world that has a place for all the flora & fauna Modern nations-the epitomes of peace Wash their hands away remain A hopeless, useless, helpless puppet Ostracized from our ancestral land Vehemently opposed and reluctantly accepted We remain a displaced alien In their eyes. There are nations, But where are humans? Where are humans? A hope puts us to survive, Where we leave a message, As we get back to the graves. We send the waves of final message; we fall, Not as a disposed waste, But as a Phoenix that falls as a nutrition, For the soil, To revive an infinite and eternal humanity That stands tall as an undestroyable banyan tree Unshakable on any crises For humanity, we give ourselves As dare-doers and daring self-killers. Let's harvest the human hearts With the ever rising flames And give back Our future generations the homes. We lost and dreams we wished With a thin ray of distant hope, We dream to give our future generations A world that has no, Hopelessness of being helpless. We assert We are helpless, but not hopeless
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50
It can't hurt us Or harm us To harmlessly flirt But they see us And warn us And harmfully assert The grass isn't greener It's grayer Than dirt * You want me Curiously I'm bitter to the taste You make me laugh Addictively Addiction here laced If we were there If we weren't Spill of the chase * Acting coy Just acting For everyone's eyes Ours lock And look Internally decide What harm We seek To whom do we lie? * Just friends Friends playing With poison in cups If you drink The venom From your veins I will **** The scars Won't move There is no luck * Raw fantasy Fresh meat My mind wanders mud Play cheat Cheat the joker Roses in bud Come closer Look at me Feel the heat of my blood * It can't harm us Or hurt us To flirt harmlessly They'll watch us So we must Chase silently In our heads It shall stay That question 'If we...'
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Oct 15, 2012
Oct 15, 2012 at 4:46 PM UTC
Harmfully Harming the Heart
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS" lord of the rings fanatics, typical Somehow controlling thousands of people turned us all into Gandalf I guarded the food, you two the door Most people don't tell you how healthy it is to assert yourself, They crave passivity, fear aggression Assertion doesn't mean aggression Patriarchal society How good it feels to stand tall Huge like a mountain, wise like a wizard If we are Gandalf you're the ring I hope you get thrown into the pits of Mordor
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Sep 30, 2014
Sep 30, 2014 at 12:50 AM UTC
Assertion