Be soft anyways. When they don’t see you as Phoenix, when they just see you as ash, when your tears are floodgates you wish you would’ve learned how to operate ages ago and you can’t stop spitting “I’m sorry”s like sunflower seed shells. There will be entire decades that you apologize for yourself for aContinue reading “There will be times where your gentle does not make sense to them.”
Tag Archives: spoken word
on a Thursday when a student writes a poem and she shows only you
and it says that she is afraid of being herself and you ask why and she says it’s personal “like, really personal” and you say if she wants to tell you, that you would love to know and she asks why and you say you care and she asks why (because kids are really goodContinue reading “on a Thursday when a student writes a poem and she shows only you”
If I had a dollar
for every time someone put me atop a pedestal I didn’t ask to definitely don’t deserve to be on I would have enough money to buy each of those people a mirror the size of their insecurities. one that would show them what they actually look like. how striking they actually are- one like thatContinue reading “If I had a dollar”
maybe
we are the parts of the story our mother’s never wanted us to tell each other. maybe we’re the cliff- hangers if we read close enough and if we put seashell up to our own echo maybe we’d realize how pleasant we sound too- how tide pool, how deep sea wouldn’t need necessarily to longinglyContinue reading “maybe”
when I read that the average life expectancy for someone living in the neighborhood I work is 68, I sobbed for the circles my students will likely not circle around the sun. I cried in the middle of grad class then realized what a damn privilege it is to be crying in the middle ofContinue reading
questions for my students and no these will not be on the test but they are so very much more important-
do you know about Einstein? and is it E=MC2 or the fact that he didn’t speak until he was 9, thought to be slow, was expelled from high school? do you know about Dr. Seuss? and is it all 1 fish 2 fish or is it the 27 rejected publishing attempts before his first success?Continue reading “questions for my students and no these will not be on the test but they are so very much more important-“
Here is every mental illness I’ve ever been diagnosed with, as a house.
because some people build homes out of their mental illnesses and I think I used to do that too. Homes are stable. Homes are steady. Homes are seemingly swell reasons not to go outside. This poem is a plea- Hey, no matter how comfortable your house is, please go outside. BIPOLAR is a house with soContinue reading “Here is every mental illness I’ve ever been diagnosed with, as a house.”
for all the honey
I have poured out of half-enjoyed human stories in chipped porcelain China cups held haphazardly in the hands of my history- I am writing a to-do list addressing my limitations. I am seeking to sip longer, to be self-loving, to be good, to be just to just be. to unlearn my fear of kissing flickeringContinue reading “for all the honey”
My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of misery, for thee i sing.
I pledge my grievance to the flag of the Divided States of America & To the ignorance for which it stands One nation Under wealth, Divisible, With liberty and justice for some. Dear America, I think we should start seeing other people. Dear America, I think you should start seeing other people within yourself. DearContinue reading “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of misery, for thee i sing.”
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