In the Lurch

Don’t shame the mouth that speaks
All they have simmered in
Now pushed into release
By a furious roiling din

Don’t mock the tears that fall
From eyes assailed with hatred
Lives covered in a pall
After power was made sacred

Don’t brush away the feeling
That something is awry
A choice once thought appealing
Could soon find you asking why

The crawling in your stomach
You felt from time to time
May cause the high to plummet
Leaving you with quite the climb

The Pain is a Utility

The rafters of you packed up tight
With all that has been lost
And even now a glaring sun
feels slightly tinged with frost
You turn now to repression
To keep yourself afloat
But still even a passing thought
Makes a lump rise in your throat
Do not run from sadness
For it can always find you
Take sometime to feel it
So it cannot keep and bind you
Your tears will try to wash it
To force it to the surface
The pain is a utility
The anguish has a purpose

Bad Jokes

Why does one get so defensive
when they are told they've been offensive
this reaction leaves me pensive
I have felt it too

It could be they just didn't know it
Lest they'd be afraid to show it
Fearing they would likely blow it
what is one to do

Some don't feel that it is wrong
If you don't like it move along
You hate my joke then bang a gong
Why are you so serious

If one you love or like at all
looks at you as if appalled
or maybe just their posture falls
It isn't so mysterious

So choose your words just like your friends
For they can help you in the end
When you mess up then make amends
perhaps they'll understand

You cannot know all that they've seen
Few folks have spent each day serene
Many more see hate obscene
so help them if you can

Shrinking Voice

The terror of a step
the shrinking of a voice
When pushed into the dark
When your fear had forced a choice

A day that's fraught with questions
that not a one can answer
When sunlight feels like nudity
when dreams feel like a cancer

You want life to be more
you want things to be better
yet getting out of bed
is an insurmountable endeavor

So you seethe each day with hope
and mourn the time that slips away
Listening for that shrinking voice's words
"It's time, Let's go, Today."

Keys

Taking the time
to look through my mind
to tie up the pieces
of unraveled twine

Feeling the breaths
that fill up my chest
will they come with ease
or be fraught with unrest

Spending my night
in a room with no light
will I be awakened
or cower in fright

Watching my dreams
play out in scenes
some bring me comfort
some make me scream

Inside are the keys
to who I should be
And no one can find them
except maybe me

Call and Response

The skin that's been blighted
A hope unrequited
exposing the roots of the rage that's incited

Well shown in the annals
Is the way things were channeled
to turn certain humans from people to mammals

A continuous tamping
Through misandric vamping
and the boxes created were brutal and cramping

Yet their voices still rise
In unending reprise
our response to their call shows of what we're comprised

Bystander

Creep away quietly from your conventions
Muster your gusto to state your dissensions
The Self Immolation of constant neutrality
A witness to others perverting reality
Feel now the roiling that lurches your gut
Point out the space between open and shut
Pull down the curtain be it white, blue or black
Let words be your weapon and truth your attack

The Case for Names

Various voices sounding aloud
a swell of ideas from a disjointed crowd
faces of red, words filled with fight
screaming in anger, wailing with plight
guttural rage spills from the fringe
some who have added a choke or a twinge
cacophonic pain of what is just life
tired of ignorance, wasted from strife
phrases decaying just as they speak them
The louder the voice the more the words weaken
like stones or like bullets shot from too far
they may feel your sting but care not who you are

The Rabid Pit

As my thoughts go sinking
into that rabid pit
that replays the occasions
of the worst sins I've commit
I see the twisted faces
of those whose hearts I've broken
I see the devastation caused
by careless words I've spoken
I long to do these differently
I yearn to take it back
I find that hitting bottom
is the opposite of black
These moments make me grimace
and cause a bitter pain
My mind has saved these moments
so I may see them again
But realization cometh
like a flood straight from the sea
How selfish when I see this
that I still just dwell on me

Perfect

You are not perfect and why should you be
but more importantly why would you be
who was it that told you that it was expected
Someone you know whose shortcomings projected
A movie you saw, or a hot TV show
do they decide or do they just know
Life is more fun when we are unique
it adds something more charisma, mystique
Be bold in your differences, show them with pride
Let all the hidden things in you outside
Leave people gasping, let their mouths hang
Try not to tiptoe, come in with a bang
Redefine beauty with your joyful spirit
Sing your song loud so everyone hears it

I Am She

I am she who wields the sword
to fight the rut
to cut the cord
to dominate my universe
to carve the path
I shall traverse

I am she who casts the spell
to turn my mind
away from hell
to find joy in the tiny places
and see the love
that hides in faces

I am she who bears the load
who likes to choose
the untread road
life's lessons guide me ever farther
when life gets hard
I get harder

I am she who roots in love
who digs in deep
removes the gloves
I shed the cage that holds my heart
I'll risk the chance
it's torn apart

Becoming

The mask has slipped
The covering torn
so tightly gripped
so avidly worn
but then a breeze
a patch of light
it's shed with ease
no more a fight
The costume falls
the bareness felt
A new form calls
No clasp no belt
Free and flowing
Wild and strong
A look of knowing
A magic song
A step toward power
So unashamed
Feel them glower
then step again

Solace

Crawl into my arms
Safe from all the others
Hidden from the harm
Just forget how life can smother
Bring me all your tears
I'll wipe them from your eyes
The guilt, regret, and fear
that leaves you paralyzed
I'll hold you close to me
til all the tears have cried
and search then for the you
that has languished deep inside

Gift

Occluded memories waiting to become, The paper fastened tight to extend the suspense. An undeserved reverence given to spent money. A fixation that is misunderstood, misaligned from it's true meaning. A value internally split between money and soul. To be known is the true gift, to be called out, to have someone say I see you, I know you. From trinkets to treasure the truly cherished gifts will be the ones that affirm your soul is something they see a part of you that perhaps no one else has, that they have come to realize it is not only an essential part of you, but also essential to them. The joy that you have visited upon them, returned. A telling of the place you hold in their heart and a thanks giving for letting them into yours.