Racist black friend you just can’t see them they’re well hidden to look down on you. You will be scolded for hiding the siren and the shipwreck. To hear itself clapping for the wrong reasons.  

“Era Sure” by Mandy Austin Cook Reconstruct confidence. Don’t be afraid  to take the drawing board and keep drawing. it doesn’t matter how many times you may have to use the eraser. The magic is in the repetition Don’t give up! Doodle if you must…

You are older now a lot of time has passed, months years maybe even weeks and or seconds, since you last read this. 12 what a time what a year the first love, first loss, first death and suicidal thoughts, first fight, first lie, first…

I can smell if you are from Louisiana Something in your blood Calls out to mine Something in your eye shine And gentle face And the color of your skin No matter the shade Something always tells me I am yours You are mine We…

His eyes, his hoodie, even the barbell hugging his eyebrow, Her jacket, her hair, the purse that carried her, Each item the same neutral hue, her favorite military green flowing into every aspect of her life Her favorite scrubs, a comfort in her work, her…

Putting moonbeams in my coffee To make it taste sweet I step into the fog on the porch The whole world wrapped in a collective hush Even from this distance I can smell the fir trees Their thick aroma combining With my dark liquid and…

Infinite potential takes a root In dark rich soil, it uncurls Pushing at the barriers of the known Emerging to bask in streams of afternoon light The first breath of transformation As the earth it was born from circles The source that nurtures it The…

  connoisseur, listen to it all close friends smarter eyes rare Latinx writers drug war or violence reinforce stereotypes. the rejection felt cut down Do I have a moral obligation to do anything as a writer? clickbait-y talking point stereotypical drug lords, maids, gangbangers, pushback…