Dear Sweet 14

Your chest isn’t too small

your butt isn’t too flat

your glasses aren’t too thick

your feet aren’t too big

those insults are coming from others that don’t even know themselves

they want you to be who they are comfortable with

someone who minimizes their own self

who shrinks to become whatever is needed in that moment

in 5 years none of those people will matter

they go home measuring themselves according to you

they go home wishing they had your body

your feet

your eyes

your intelligence

while you go home figuring out how to shrink

how to become anyone that won’t need to be teased

if it’s not your size

its your friends skin color

your virginity

Your hair ends needing to be trimmed

its your clothes brand

your dirty tennis shoes

Dear sweet girl, you are not meant to be enough for anyone else

you sweet sweet girl..

you are more than enough for yourself

so just be you

learn to be comfortable in your skin

with your flaws

and love yourself through not knowing better

love yourself through others judgements

love yourself through it all

Night Shift

So many numbers get lost in a night
so many corresponding letters of the alphabet, too.

What events are on the verge of not being under your control
because you can’t redirect your own thoughts?

The way your billboard painters present the retelling
of what more reliable sources reported,
no one must get any sleep where you live.

Anansi

WHEN U TAKE

WHAT THEY TOOK FROM U

IT WILL MAKE THEM ANGRY

THEY WILL CALL U UNFAIR FOR TAKING

THAT WHICH HAS ALWAYS BELONGED TO U

THEY WILL CALL U VIOLENT

THEY WILL CALL U UNGRATEFUL

THEY WILL CALL U A HYPOCRITE

THEY WILL CALL U AN OPPRESSOR

THEY WILL SAY

DO NOT FIGHT HATE WITH HATE

REVOLUTION MUST BE QUIET

CHANGE MUST HAPPEN IN SILENCE

DO NOT KICK OR SCREAM

PROTEST PEACEFULLY

REHEARSE YOUR DEMANDS BUT DO NOT VOICE THEM

PRAY TO YOUR GOD

MAYBE HE WILL GRANT YOUR WISH

OVER THE COURSE OF THE NIGHT

BUT DO NOT EVER

RAISE YOUR VOICE

OR HAVE THE GUTS TO FIGHT BACK

THEY IGNORE THE HISTORY OF THEIR POWER

BUT REVOLUTION DOES NOT HAPPEN IN QUIET

U MUST RAGE AGAINST THE HATE THEY GIVE U

IF U CANNOT MAKE IT OUT ALIVE

MAKE SURE U GO OUT IN FLAMES

That Night

Thrashing, in a moment thrust awake

A scream pierces the air, the child awakes

Something is amiss, the screams fail to cease

You hold, you comfort, you coddle

But nothing brings them peace

You start to fear the worst, as they begin to wheeze

The child starts to panic, stricken looks fill their eyes

This child is in danger and we must find a cure tonight

With a sudden burst of speed you rush out the door

Down the road you fly, just warding off the horror

The hospital looms before you

In a panic you screech to a halt

Child in hand you rush in

Crying for someone to help

The nurses fall upon you, looking at the babe

Soon upon a table your weakened child now lays

The worst you think is over, surely I’ts OK

But soon the doctor walks in and you know just by his face

Your heart tears in two, as you fall upon the floor

How could this nightmare happen

How could my child be no more

My Heart is in the North

Across the sea

through frozen waves

and depths so deep that they have never seen the sun

Lies a land

sister to my own

separated billions of year ago

A land that holds my heart

From the moment I first stepped onto this land

with the rain lightly touching my face and the wind in my hair

the lush greenness and the freshness of the air

called me home

And I knew, this is where I belonged

But my passport says something different

Country borders are still a thing

and I cannot go home

No matter how much I long for it.

Alba, tha gaol agam ort (Scotland, I love you)

Bidh gaol agam ort gu bràth (I will always love you)

Tha m ‘anam a ’caoineadh dhut (My soul weeps for you)

Tha mi a ’cluinntinn gu bràth (My heart is yours forever)

A dh’aithghearr thig mi dhachaigh (Soon I will come home)

Dear Little Gina

Dear precious little Gina
Never saying a word
Then scream at the top of the stairs
Just trying to be heard. 

Dear pretty little Gina
The world will work out fine.
In spite of how it seems
The smiles will come with time.

Dear precocious little Gina
Stay to your goals and dreams
The unique things that make them tease you
Will become your winning themes.

♥
jj2019 2019 Poetry Marathon

Stairway from Sadness

Jeez brother, why are you so sad?

We get it, you’re growing up
We get it, it’s strange and weird
We get it, you’re leaving but why?
Why are you sad?

You’re about to enter that part of the Indie movie
Where the character sits by the window and just
Looks at the surrounding landscape while a dope
Soundtrack play in the back, so why are you sad?

You can do anything you want now.
You can go out to parties and sing
You can dress as cool as you are
Oh no, again? Why are you sad?

Listen to me as I have already been through the pain
I have been tried and tested and have pulled through
Don’t sit around and twiddle your silly thumbs like me
Go out, enjoy life, and do things with people or else
The question may just be, “Why was he so sad?”

Winged Heart (A Haiku, Hour Eleven)

Winged Heart

 

with wings on your arm

you wear your heart on your sleeve

so permanently

 

 

***This is an actual photo of my first tattoo. I got it in memory of my late husband Rickey, who suffered from multiple medical issues which resulted in him losing both his feet before he passed. When our niece Merenda explained to her six-year-old daughter Trystan that Rickey had passed and was in Heaven now, Trystan got excited and exclaimed, “Uncle Rickey has feet AND wings now!” which moved me to the point of making that the basis for my tattoo. But earlier today when talking with my mother and sharing my marathon poems with her, she mentioned how the tattoo was truly meant for me because I have always worn my heart on my sleeve as well, and it struck a chord with me.***

 

(A haiku is a three line poem with a syllable count of 5/7/5.)

Dear Baby Rach

Dear baby Rach,

It really was OK for you to come when you did be who you were to get to who you are. Which is me now. It doesn’t really matter if it was a shock when you arrived. And you didn’t mean to steal anyone’s thunder. It’s OK to sing your heart song and speak your voice and tell the truth of  what you will become. Everyone doesn’t always love everyone and everything isn’t always what we thought it would be. Time doesn’t heal all wounds and love doesn’t fix much of anything. That old game of landing on your feet isn’t always fun but when you dust off your knees  it’s not so hard to take some more steps. You are precious. Pain is a message listen to the subtle ones

I’m sorry I let adulting get in the way  promise I will be more sensitive in the future

love,

me now

 

 

 

Dear my former self,Devika at 18 with curly hair

The curls of my hair rising in the wind,
we walked around holding hands.

He loved me and I loved him too.
He loved curling my already curly hair,
with his index finger.

We roamed around,sang together,
loved with no limits.

Today,pages flip back in my mind,
of memories filled of beauty and life.

He,rather we,deep within,
remain a sweet scented mystery,now and forever…