I remember my mother telling me stories 
 of those who rose above 
 saw themselves as eagles and left the flock of crows
 unburied themselves from life’s burdens 
 telling me to be great you must study the great 
 walk and talk as they did 
 Surround yourself with those who do what you want to do
 History tells you how
 You need just the patience to…

I want to embarrass you.
To show you off in the best of ways
Buy you that dress, 
Gas you up and take you out. 
I want to post every moment,
claim you as mine and challenge every stray eye.

I used to sit and think
back to when I would wonder
when it would stop 
the ceasless pain, panic and pressure
memories haunting 
making me settle for dirt and believing like that was too much. 
Mask after Mask
with chains wrapped around my heart, mind, and throat. 
The Keys were snapped and locks smelted
My soul had become stagnant and life was all…

We are starved
Eaten everything down to the bone but our faces are still sunken in. 
It has been years of progress and utility
Making sure you can get a job, pay the bills. 
A path was created:
School
Job
Marriage
Family
Retire
Die. 
Living and living well, two ideas 
Separate but Equal.

I am privileged. 
I am a white, cis, straight, male. 
My skin color will never get me killed 
Getting pulled over is never life or death 
A coworker won’t think I slept my way to the top. 
I am entitled

I keep myself in my pocket, would you like to see?

-

“I have spread my dreams at your feet;

 Tread softly because you tread on my dreams”

We are our dreams

Explaining Series 1:
Mental Health, Identity, Positivity

“Make sure you major in something useful”
“ My parents won’t let me major in that. They say it isn’t useful”
“If you are going to do that, make sure you learn some useful skills”

I hate this kind of talk
Utility is lifted to the highest status of human life
Forbid you…

There is a part of me
A small part with a loud voice. 
The claims I don’t belong. 
Not in the way that traps me in bed. 
Rather the kind that wants to be in a hotel
or a hostel
or a tent
or a bed of my car.

Do you have those thoughts,
The thoughts that you keep under lock and key
Stored away in a vault and buried in your mind.

Do you have those thoughts that if left to root 
Will crumble your world 
Leaving you hollow like termites to an oak. 
Until a slight breeze comes
And…