Category: 11th

How does one attempt to fix
An already lived in world
Like a pair of shoes
With tears in the soles
And holes in the toes
You wished to give to your children
But are now
Unwearable
Like our world
A gift for the children
But a broken one

For what does one do
When they need water
But have no tap
When they need justice
But have no representation

I hope my children
Do not resent me
For the broken world I could not fix
And I hope they still try to stitch the rips
And wear this world
One more time

Nine days I spent alone
On the cusp of reality
With a full room
And an empty mind

What does one do when they have no thoughts?

A world full of pigments
Of varying intensities
Of varying styles
Of varying attitudes

A room full of people
Each one alone
Too scared to speak to one another
All of empty mind

Who do I always hope to see in a crowded room?

You
Without reason
My empty mind travels back
To you
Sending me spiraling
Without warning
A black and white world turns golden
And swings naturally
Back to blue
As my unnatural longing
Is met with the apathy
Of an empty mind

And so here I am
Ten days spent alone
Finally falling back towards the reality
Of my empty room
Of my empty mind

“Money does not equal happiness”
Is what the rich men say.
In an attempt to make us feel better when they lower our pay.
They’ll scrape us clean of everything we’ve got.
Then complain about THEIR lives while sailing on a yacht.
I know everybody’s got problems, but our battles we fought and theirs
they bought.
And yes as humans we all bleed the same blood, but we do not live the same life.
So spend a day in my shoes, and see if you’ll still be loved by your wife.

Mr. Corporate man, I beg, if not money then what does bring joy?
He looks up from his papers, at me, the man he wants to employ.
“That’s simple! Happiness is good health, family, a home, and food!”
I’m sorry sir, pardon me for what I am about to say
I truly do not mean to be rude.
But I feel like your concept of money and joy is misconstrued.
Your ideology is conceited and skewed.
You fail to realize those things are not a given.
If they were I wouldn’t be vigorously searching
through the floors and the walls I have riven.
Looking for something to pay with,
to purchase your given joys.
Anything.
I only need twenty more dollars to pay for my rent.
But god is that rare.
I’m so sick of this. Begging for help, sending out a flare.
Yet twenty dollars is worthless to you.
Cause well, you’re a millionaire.

But go on,
make your claims about how I should clean myself up, work harder,
do more.
You don’t seem to understand, to do those things is something I can’t afford.
And trust me I wish I could, oh how I pray I could
I pray to the Lord.
A Lord of which you are not, so don’t preach to me about working hard.
Tell me, have you ever even mowed your own yard?
For that matter, have you ever once cleaned your own room?
I mean have you ever even held a broom?!

To you, money does not equal happiness because you were born into it,
you didn’t have to witness the inner workings of it all.
You never had to watch your mother cry as she explained why you can’t play basketball.
Hiding her embarrassment by claiming it was cause you just weren’t that tall.
Wealth is hereditary,
and so is poverty.
Happiness costs a fee.
Making me filled with jealousy
and a hatred towards greed.

My childhood left me beaten and scarred.
Whereas on your sixteenth birthday, you got a new car.
But you cried, screamed, and carried on.
All because it was the wrong
color.
This business you “built”, was passed down to you from your brother.
So you have no right to show me any shame
and state my work ethic is to blame.
Because to me money IS happiness,
and to you…
It’s a game.

The clouds have made their way into my room,
from sky blue boards that shield the bones of my house,
only to rain.
Soon, the carpet will mold,
and the turquoise of my room will peel away
like the bark on the dying oak tree in my neighbor’s backyard, just above the broken fence.
But today,
all I am left with is the pale yellow of tomorrow,
and the roots that will never grow from dried dead roses;
kept in bundles on my windowsill.

Everything in this moment feels WHITE:
My name when you call it,
The comfort you exude
Gentle light let in by open windows
The soft petals of daisies fallen

WHITE is Chopin on the stereo
WHITE is a ceramic bowl you take care not to break
WHITE sheets of paper budding with possibility
Sun bleached seashells along the shore
WHITE thread to bend a torn button
Handwritten heartfelts on WHITE stationary, exchanged with hardly a word
What is left to say?

Walking under moonlight,
Whistling a low, sweet tune
WHITE pillowcases to finally rest our heads;
Send ourselves to dreams on

And you
You are everything I’ve described:
care , solace , relief
And when I forget what comfort is-
I remember who you are

How could I have known?
With the ocean spilling in
There was no shoreline

Ships that pass in the night
Cursed to meet only briefly,
Fall in love,
And reach the shore
Separately

2020.

A year where over 80 million people caught the coronavirus. Some survived. And some didn’t.
A year where over three million animals were killed due to the wildfires.
It was a year where people like Brennon Taylor, George Floyd, Michael J. Rivera, Vincent Harris and so many more were taken from this world by the police system.
It was a year when people spent more time worrying about the political issues of wearing a mask rather than just listening to the health officials and protecting themselves and others.
It was a year of protests and riots over issues that could not be solved by a simple statement.

The list could go on forever because 2020 was a year of chaos.

But, 2020 was also a lesson.

Through this year, we have learned the importance of being with family. Of value the time that we spend with others because who knows what can happen next.
This year has taught us to cherish the simple acts like giving a hug to someone without being forced to wear a mask.
This year has shown us the growth of technology in that we are able to video chat with our loved ones during difficult times.
This year has taught us to hold out hope, even when it seems like nothing can be better. On December 14, the first American citizen got the Covid-19 vaccine, giving us hope that soon life will get back to normal.

With everything that’s occurred this year, it’s important to reflect on the little good that happened along with the bad. Despite all the pain that this year brought, we should have hope that 2021 will be better. Some believe that we will go back to our daily motions of life and it will be like nothing ever happened. But it is important to take these lessons that 2020 has brought us and use them.

We pack up all the lessons that this past year has taught us, and we wait for the next event that life will throw at us. We say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021.

2020.

A year where over 80 million people caught the coronavirus. Some survived. And some didn’t.
A year where over three million animals were killed due to the wildfires.
It was a year where people like Brennon Taylor, George Floyd, Michael J. Rivera, Vincent Harris and so many more were taken from this world by the police system.
It was a year when people spent more time worrying about the political issues of wearing a mask rather than just listening to the health officials and protecting themselves and others.
It was a year of protests and riots over issues that could not be solved by a simple statement.

The list could go on forever because 2020 was a year of chaos.

But, 2020 was also a lesson.

Through this year, we have learned the importance of being with family. Of valuing the time that we spend with others because who knows what can happen next.
This year has taught us to cherish the simple acts like giving a hug to someone without being forced to wear a mask.
This year has shown us the growth of technology in that we are able to video chat with our loved ones during difficult times.
This year has taught us to hold out hope, even when it seems like nothing can be better. On December 14, the first American citizen got the Covid-19 vaccine, giving us hope that soon life will get back to normal.

With everything that’s occurred this year, it’s important to reflect on the little good that happened along with the bad. Despite all the pain that this year brought, we should have hope that 2021 will be better. Some believe that we will go back to our daily motions of life and it will be like nothing ever happened. But it is important to take these lessons that 2020 has brought us and use them.

We pack up all the lessons that this past year has taught us, and we wait for the next event that life will throw at us. We say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021.