Roses once persisted

Thornless, non-pernicious

Beauty was a badge

But soon became a weakness

Almost erasing their existence

They had to draw the line

Had to grow a spine

Protecting their beauty

Protecting their soul

Ensuring their children

would remain whole

Thorns grew in their sides

Thus saving their lives

And lending their beauty

To wives and the wise...

“Bro! Wake up!” I yelled at Austin, aggressively.

“The wedding is in four hours, and we gotta get you right, Aus.”

Seems like I only called Austin “Aus” when things were either going extremely well—or looking very grim. But now wasn’t the time to reminisce. I needed to revive the dead. I needed the groom up and dancing. Even if he looked like Michael Jackson from Thriller—he was dancing.

Austin ...

Stone after stone

Crypt after crypt

Reading graves

Of a life once lived

What they added

I now subtract

And in the hyphen you’ll find their glory

Even the dead tell stories...

That repugnant lowlife! Of all the days in the world to pull something this stupid, this irresponsible. It’s your child’s cake for goodness sake what else is there to care about.

Adult child my ass, where is the adult, she means nothing to me! Out here raising children by the skin of her teeth. Wouldn’t even have a child if it wasn’t for me reminding her to do the simple things.

...

Butterflies in my stomach

Swirl about

Gliding and poking

when you come around

Butterflies don’t like yelling

They feel like insects

They start rebelling

A swarm of locusts

Crash inside my belly

Am I going to be sick

Or is this going to kill me

I throw them up

And spit them out

Not a fan of bugs in my belly now...

“Dustin wake up!”, my brother screamed while shaking me violently.

“What happened? Was it that same dream again?”, he asked. I answered him with a blank stare as I replayed the horror in my mind. My shirt was drenched, the room was cool, and my mind… my mind was a war zone.

“I just don’t know what to do bro, no matter what I do I can’t escape the thought it just replays over and ove...

I thought, am I staring down the barrel of a gun right now? And then I thought how, me? I’m a girly girl, with a big smile, curvy shape, and perfect skin. The number of inappropriate things men, (and woman) have said while I was bagging their items are too numerous to count. It truly is one of the worst parts about being a gas station clerk, and yet. How much more I would rather any lewd comment f...

My neighbor is a wonderful older black woman named Mrs. Stacy, who shouldn’t donate blood because it would be full of grit and stress that most blood streams can’t handle.

Don’t be misled, she is a gentle soul, with a tough exterior. Her favorite past time is talking, boy is she a talker. She could keep a conversation going for a whole day if she wanted too (which she often does). She l...

… convinced I could touch the great moving clouds, if I just extended my arms a little further, you see, my will over powered my imagination and so I made the impossible happen. I never doubted myself for a second because once I finally reached those clouds at 20, my arms wanted to extend just a little further. So I spent the next two decades on that single endeavor. After all, I just wanted to pu...

You knew by the title

This was a poem of reprisal

An ode to the word countless spoken

That turns

In an instant

Against all of your hoping

Cloaking itself in the corner of your mind

Kicking your point down to the mines

Yes, now, of all times?!

A thought we lament

Knowing this word is so frequently spent

There’s a brainstorm, amidst a rainstorm

For synonyms, homynms

All the wrong words are th...