Get up, girl.

Knees skinned from praying,

Voice hoarse from explaining.

Wipe that nose.

Fixate mind. Compose.

Not today or tomorrow will life stop punching.

You learn to move-- to roll.

You learn to keep your eyes dry,

Your head high, your voice from shaking, lies from ingraining.

Miasmatic minds will try to poison who you are.

You've come so far to drown here now in tears shed on unscathed cheeks, on low hung shoulders, at the hands of those intent on breaking-- hellbent on annihilating who you are--

A force of nature.

An animal that breathes and speaks fire,

From deep within,

Burning--

Warming those you keep close by.

What you are is magic.

You may not feel it.

They made you forget.

I stand by to remind you.

You, my dear, transcend.

Aching bones and a swollen heart.

Mind whirling- daydream churning.

Blinding obsession,

Comes fast; overstays its welcome, taking everything over.

No time to process, only to react.

Burns too hot, needs too much-- you'll know it isn't love.

Love slowly lights a room...

Outlasting even life.

Once lit: burns eternally.

Lust will weigh you down.

Love will help you fly.

More people care about the legalization of weed, man.

But did that become more important than the legalization

Of women and children?

“Death is inevitable.”

“They’re not our problem.”

Close up all borders, especially…

Specifically down in the south,

Even if Canadians are sneaking in

It’s not a thing…

Look at the skin...

Yaaaa, but have you seen

Kim K and Kanye new

Baybay?

Aw she’s too cute!

Speaking of…that swimwear

Caitlyn in…arrest her!

She’s killing it!

Oh, but the law busy,

Gunning down people who

Don’t look like you, who…

Keep saying ‘all lives matter’

But do black lives really matter?

Because when it really matters,

You’re not out there

Protesting the inequality

To guarantee the end of all of this hostility.

But god forbid they take your flag, the

Underhanded symbol of racism

You keep saying isn’t in existence…

And suddenly you’re filled with passion

For human rights, despite the meaning of-

the flag you’re waving.

But it’s just too much…

So we stay out of touch

With the reality of our

Humanity (if you can call it that)

We sit back, get our news from E!

Crooked smile consumes

me, eyes alone neglect.

Nights remind me

of the eternal-

split second

our lips inevitably

touched. Ache

flows throughout in

place of butterflies.

Caught in paroxysms

of this fever you gave.

Mind intent on

keeping you,

so I plunge head

first into every-

memory, every word

you ever spoke.

A droop in your shoulders-

eyes focused on void.

With a crease in your brow

you roam through the

days. The days become

weeks, when's the last

time you smiled?

It escapes you as anger,

and you've got them

all fooled.

There's no pat on the

back. No one lends

you a shoulder or even

an ear-

not with your fists that

high and with that heave

in place of a sigh. You

stand at the door, it'd

be a chore to go out-

a disaster you try to

avoid.

So you move when

they watch-

stand still when out

of sight.

And this is how you

live when you lack

a little light.

Black teens are gunned down one too many times. A man in the running for presidency refers to Mexican illegal immigrants as rapists and thieves on national television. Transgendered people are violently killed. Women have yet to reach pay equality among men. We live in fear of foreign and domestic terrorism. Perhaps education is the last thing on anyone’s mind, but it shouldn’t be. Are you aware that 1 in 5 persons, globally, are illiterate? Did you know that 2/3 of them are women? In the United States alone 93 million people have less than the basic literacy skills. We wonder why people flee their country in hope of finding something more here. We wonder how so many of us lack compassion for fellow human beings who perhaps look, speak, or even love differently than us. It is my honest opinion that lack of education is a giant monstrous crisis that our government, the world, and we seem to be ignoring. It is the elite who receive exclusive education, possibly by their fellow elite, and go on to lead in our country. How much diversity do we see in congress? Can we be surprised by the lack there of? What we need is that our world leaders give more importance to the education system. I don’t believe that during this time and age it should matter where you live, everyone deserves a prime education. During a time when information is only a click away and when gossip magazines are paying millions of dollars for a first look at some reality stars baby, is it too much to invest in schools? As a mother whose daughters are not fair skinned blondes, I fear for them. As an aunt of black children, I fear for them. As a descendant of illegal immigrants, I fear for them. This is my country and I don’t deserve to live in fear. A person who reads sees beyond their societal borders. They see life through different eyes, creating compassion and understanding in them. They begin to realize that there is more than they know out there, more than their parents or guardians are teaching them. Education creates leaders; persons who are going to take matters into their own hands and build a better world. Leaders who can rebuild their countries, make them prosperous, somewhere people want to live, can live, that’s what we need. Our leaders today have to help make that change, the education systems need more money not fund cuts. We, the people, need to put pressure on them. We need to realize that this benefits all of us. In this land of diversity we ought to see familiar faces leading our country: black, white and every shade in between. We need someone who can, not only, stand up for those of us who are considered a minority, but who understand our struggles and afflictions. Imagine what can come from the sticks, hoods or the barrios; all the undiscovered genius. Imagine how much violence and ignorance we can abolish, simply by educating.

Black teens are gunned down. Mexican illegal immigrants are ireferred to as rapists and thieves on national television by a man in the running for presidency. Women have yet to reach pay equality among men. We live in fear of foreign and domestic terrorism. Perhaps education is the last thing on anyone’s mind, but it shouldn’t be. Are you aware that 1 in 5 persons, globally, are illiterate? Did you know that 2/3 of them are women? In the United States alone 93 million people have less than the basic literacy skills. We wonder why people flee their country in hope of finding something here. We wonder how so many of us lack compassion for fellow human beings who perhaps look, speak, or even love differently than us. It is my honest opinion that lack of education is a giant monstrous crisis that we, our government, and the world seem to be ignoring. It is the elite who receive exclusive education, possibly by fellow elites, and go on to lead in our country. How much diversity do we see in congress? Can we be surprised by the lack there of? What we need is that our world leaders give more importance to the education system. I don’t believe that in this time and age it should matter where you live, everyone deserves a prime education. As a mother whose daughters are not fair skinned blondes, I fear for them. As an aunt of black children, I fear for them. As a descendant of illegal immigrants, I fear for them. This is my country and I don’t deserve to live in fear. A person who reads sees beyond their societal borders. They see life through different eyes. They begin to realize that there is more than they know out there. Education creates leaders; persons who are going to take things into their own hands and build a better world. Leaders who can rebuild their countries, make them prosperous, somewhere people want to live, can live, that’s what we need. Our leaders today have to help make that change, the education systems need more money not fund cuts. We, the people, need to put pressure on them. We need to realize that this benefits all of us. In this country of diversity want to see familiar faces leading our country; black, white and every shade in between. We need someone who can not only stand up for those of us who are considered a minority, but who understand our struggles and afflictions. Imagine what can come from the sticks, hoods or the barrios, all the undiscovered genius. Imagine how much violence and ignorance we can abolish, simply by educating.

Every day I pick at old scars-

pain to remind me of my misdeeds.

This way, perhaps, being locked away

isn’t in vain. A cage for my punishment,

though it can feel restricting,

broken wings can no longer fly.

It is true, at times, shackles-

they can feel heavy,

But I will gladly carry this burden.

Regret tries to steal bits of light left

in my heart. So I remember-

violence-the way broken bones ache,

and the impossibility of seeing through black

eyes. Suddenly, defense was my only crime.

Black teens are gunned down. Mexican illegal immigrants are referred to as rapists and thieves on national television by a man in the running for presidency. Women have yet to reach pay equality among men. We live in fear of foreign and domestic terrorism. Perhaps education is the last thing on anyone’s mind, but it shouldn’t be. Are you aware that 1 in 5 persons, globally, are illiterate? Did you know that 2/3 of them are women? In the United States alone 93 million people have less than the basic literacy skills. We wonder why people flee their country in hope of finding something here. We wonder how so many of us lack compassion for fellow human beings who perhaps look, speak, or even love differently than us. It is my honest opinion that lack of education is a giant monstrous crisis that we, our government, and the world seem to be ignoring. It is the elite who receive exclusive education, possibly by fellow elites, and go on to lead in our country. How much diversity do we see in congress? Can we be surprised by the lack there of? What we need is that our world leaders give more importance to the education system. I don’t believe that in this time and age it should matter where you live, everyone deserves a prime education. As a mother whose daughters are not fair skinned blondes, I fear for them. As an aunt of black children, I fear for them. As a descendant of illegal immigrants, I fear for them. This is my country and I don’t deserve to live in fear. A person who reads sees beyond their societal borders. They see life through different eyes. They begin to realize that there is more than they know out there. Education creates leaders; persons who are going to take things into their own hands and build a better world. Leaders who can rebuild their countries, make them prosperous, somewhere people want to live, can live, that’s what we need. Our leaders today have to help make that change, the education systems need more money not fund cuts. We, the people, need to put pressure on them. We need to realize that this benefits all of us. In this country of diversity want to see familiar faces leading our country; black, white and every shade in between. We need someone who can not only stand up for those of us who are considered a minority, but who understand our struggles and afflictions. Imagine what can come from the sticks, hoods or the barrios, all the undiscovered genius. Imagine how much violence and ignorance we can abolish, simply by educating.