Rebellion
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Confined in these lines, how much movement is mine
How much deviance is permissible without going too far as to be
Unacceptable
Unaddressable
Unprofessional
"I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be." ~ Joan Dideon
You came to Iowa, married, divorced.
He wanted you to be small.
You wouldn’t have it. No one
can contain you,
Extraordinary woman.
Alright, sweetheart.
What’s this about acting the victim,
Again?
Your dress is stained, my dear,
And your hair a rat’s nest.
Her cracked fingernails
Are now covered in a fresh varnish
That shimmers
Like a clouded jewel freshly polished.
Her bloodied lips
1.24.15
I won't make you promises,
I won't tell you lies,
Most of the time
One of us cries.
One cries for love,
One cries for food,
One cries because
They're in a bad mood.
We all grow up, but we don't all glow up.
Some of us just need to take responsibility and show up.
Helping others by learning about the injustices, we get woke up.
O Miles Per Hour
Freedom, foot on pedal
Propels my machine of metal
20 miles per hour
Windows down
Volume up
Off the grid
Flipping pages late into the night,
Reading about Thomas Jefferson’s accomplishments
The great things he did
I wanted to do something great, unprecedented
I can stage a small rebellion
anytime, even at dinner.
Sucking, gnawing citrus proudly
as the others inhale pie.
Twelve year olds these days reminds us
of how cringe-worthy we used to be
and that's probably why we give them so much shit.
Ya'll wanna pretend
you weren't starting fires and stealing cigarettes
Words flow from my pencil.
Feelings flow from my heart.
A simple pattern forms from my mind.
A simpler pattern forms from my feelings.
Who is to say what makes me "right?"
Who is to say what makes me whole?
I see red rivers of blood
not merely puddles
You would think that this is a horror story
But this a contiguous continuous struggle
America you are a bully
We're living a silent violence Locked on everyone else's frustrations Afraid of climbing our own mountainsWe find peace in this violation We can't breath pure airIt stinks everywhere
Pain in the Ass
From the moment I was born I have been
a complete pain in my mothers ass,
literally, red faced and over eager to escape
where I came from, I broke her tailbone.
Pain in the Ass
From the moment I was born I have been
a complete pain in my mothers ass,
literally, red faced and over eager to escape
where I came from, I broke her tailbone.
I wanted to work with the idea of void that John Stezaker had when he created a collage of ready made post card and filled these images inside faces.
My people hunted here,
Where white people now stand,
And where are my brothers,
In Oklahoma, where we were pushed away.
My friends are hated,
For being black, Asian or Hispanic,
Those moments of immortality
they hit us in bursts;
bold
bright
beautiful
remiding us that we are the stars that shoot across the night sky
the storms that rage against the gulf shore.
You just cannot tell me
To respect the men in blue
When I'm still a runaway,
Post-slave to the system
Still a blooded Indian
Still a blooded African
Still the 'other American in their eyes.
Closed walls, walled hearts
narrow halls, hollow parts.
A man alone, set apart
Black Turnstone, hidden heart.
High throne, thin skin
Its not easy
They said
You'll have to struggle
They said
Don't be a rebel
They said
I didn't even intend to be one
However there were other things
They never said
Break down
Shimmer and crumple
Let them glide with a stride so perplex
As men begin to withstand the precocious
Demands of his brethren
Let the people speak
We have tolerated too much already.
We have been left to clean up the mess.
From now on, you will be stripped of your identity.
Your children will be taken away form you.
Beware, we will find you.
Cold water to the face like an electric shock.
You dropped everything you were doing and your mouth is all locked.
'Cause you didn't want to talk. And they can't make you.
As a seed we learn and soak in experiences and hurt.
Our growth is formed solely in our direction whether we follow the light of the sun or the dark of the room.
But to learn in the right we must be taught by another.
Should I stay,
Should I go,
Should I pray,
Even for a foe?
Should I walk,
Should I run,
Should I talk,
Show my ideas a little sun?
Should I stand tall,
Should I crumble and weep,
Cut me open
Run dry my veins
What do you see?
Red
For fire
For passion
For anger and betrayal
For revenge
Action
Survival
Power
Rebellion
I seethe with it.
Yeah you only live once
That's why you got to live smart
trying to get ahead in life
can't be making shots in the dark
But hear me clearly
cant get nowhere if you don't try
Perfection, Caught in a moment so complex that the average mind cannot comprehend such an unexpected necessity.
To lie in arms, embracing what is and doomed never to be.
It was a place in the 1940's
where all the foxes still hung up on swing
would go to lick the floors and taste the walls.
Vigil and roaring,
it held the blistered soles of vagabonds,
We get punished for not meeting your expectations
Of getting the grades and acing our examinations
With disappointment slapped across your faces
The feeling of shame has become our number one basis
So this is me
Shoegazing
Always
An epiphany
And your garage rock sound
Does nothing to stir me
I just sit back
Watching the flow
Smooth over my edges
I'm tired of pretending I'm happy.
I'm tired of pretending I'm okay.
I'm tired of pretending I don't care,
when there's so much more I could say.
I'm crying out, but no one hears.
I don’t think they understand it
This building is not where our lives end or began
When I go home I don’t think about equations and test dates
Yeah- I am more concerned with family and friends
Sapphire eyes
Made by fire
And burned by years
Created to search
They search
Scanning the crowd
Making a point
To avoid the walls
Shiny toy guns
Slippery flesh
We are undefined by words alone, the ones who stand, the rolling stones.
They will say stand out in a crowd and try something newBut heaven forbid that you actually do.
Fragment No. 1
…I keep my mouth closed
I don’t try to speak
But I can feel my bones
Rebelling
My blood is screaming,
“REVOLUTION! REVOLUTION!!
LIBERTA! LIBERTA!!”
My bones are howling,
They built these walls to protect me
At least that's what they said.
"Monsters, demons and darkness live
Beyond these high stone walls"
Entrigued I was by their small fact
I am finished.
This has gone on for far too long.
Trying to fit into your box of expectations had been my only goal since childhood.
I see now that your expectations are not me.
I won't let you define my life.
You stand there, hand raised, blank stare, that ‘I don’t give a damn’ smirk scrawled across your face. Nostrils flare when you realize I stand here. No no-good, condescending, ‘coulda been better than this’, is gonna stand in my way.
Eyes forward. Chin up. Chest out. Head high.
Stiff upper lip, now; that's it. You've got it.
Don't slouch. Fall in line. Step lively. Look pretty.
Lather. Smile. Repeat.
