Why do they act so much like them?

Same used smile…

Same name…

Same use of words…

They have grown too familiar
To him in the pile.

His name of the figure
The one that’s filled with shame.

Every word couldn’t be filtered
It went on specific terms.

“They’re like us…
Like them.”

Way too much like
Them.

That gave me a random spark
to check on them,
to make sure they are
okay
every day.

I resent the ones that can't tell an errant glance from a second look
And the time it takes to slap your ass back to the monkey's path
I resent the nit I'm made to pick with a dead prick
And the shotgun your mom slept with when I wasn't there
Like the Mossberg you used when you made your last decision
She could have sold it had you been a better coward
Instead of the kind you were when your finger found the trigger
Did you feel like a man made to bloom like a Kodiak sun
Angry at the sky and preemptively proud

I feel like I need you
And I know you’re no good for me
And I know you’re perfect for me.

I want to want you
And I do want you
But I don’t.

I don’t need you
But I want to need you
And I want to love you
And I do love you.

I want to want you in my life
And I do.
I want to want you in my home
But I don’t.

I want to want to embrace you
And I do.
I want to want to make love to you
But I don’t.

Tell You
Written by Kelly Ann Wilson

I never got to go to Portugal
The next place on my list
So, book that flight
And get on the jet plane

I never got to realize the career
I could have built for myself
And seen what I was truly capable of
So, apply for that job you think
Is out of your league

I never made it to my first day of classes
Or to walk across the stage to graduate
So, live so big and make some memories
In that college town

I stand, a poet with a spirit unbound, Within the depths of a disability's hold.
Though barriers may confine, my words resound.

A prism of strength in each verse I've found,
Colors aflame, my tales to be told.
I stand, a poet with a spirit unbound.

Through whispered fears, my voice is profound,
Amidst the tempest, tenacious and bold.
Though barriers may confine, my words resound.

In every line, a battle profound,
A dance of light where shadows unfold.
I stand, a poet with a spirit unbound.

Juneteenth hint: three hundred
and sixty six days
after eighteen sixty four.

Major General Gordon Granger
led the Union Soldiers to Galveston, Texas,
to announce the end of the Civil war
and the freedom of all enslaved people.

Jim Crow sat perched
over the event horizon
waiting in the wings,
which brought darkened
(non-sheltering) skies
not only for the hot pocket
of suddenly emancipated
persons of color,
who would subsequently experience
immense prejudice
upon their embarkation

I should have let you in
gave you a room of your own,
I should have hand fed you
an equal measure of attention

I should have acquiesced
shown you my heart,
giving you a holy name
whispered in reverence

I would welcome the pain
we are eternally acquainted,
I could have been content
whilst grinding bones to dust

But I muttered "not today"
drawing breath free of death,
aching in the pit of my soul
forever wondering "what if?"

Silence, my loyal companion, enfolds me
in the embrace of solitude’s sanctuary,
where words dare not tread, forsaking her.
With vacant eyes, she wields a brush
and paints a portrait of the deity forlorn,
narrating tales without the need for speech.
In unity, we share laughter that reverberates,
its echoes resonating in our weathered bones,
like a distant memory of mirth,
amidst a chamber adorned with shattered fragments.

My time
From cradle to the grave

My Peace,
My innocence.
My Glow,
My fortitude .

My Race,
My turbulence.
My Insanity,
My fiery furnace.

My rest,
My Very end.

I think you're crazy, wanting me
but I'm not going to object
I want you too, can't you see?
This heart is not suspect

I've been watching you, seen your eyes
I want you to see this soul
Come on baby, take the prize
Come on, take this heart of gold

There's nothing here, I want to hide
Please don't be afraid
Look at me, and see inside
I'm not going to go away