We pride ourselves in individuality

In how unique we can become.

But we all follow the same rules

In the aims to be someone.

Out in society we apply ourselves

To dress codes

But look, my cuff links are different

Dude, you look like a penguin

And that’s not a compliment.

But none of that changes what happens

When we recede to our own spaces.

Doesn’t matter the gender,

Or difference between r...

My father taught me to treat others with kindness,

My mother taught me to hold me ground.

My father taught me how to argue succinctly,

My mother taught me patience unbound.

My mother and father taught me respect—

What it feels like to have it,

to reciprocate and expect.

They taught things worth loving

Are things I should protect.

My mother taught me compliments don’t have to be about my body,

My...

The Ark

You used to wanna be a fashion designer,

Now you walk in trios like mean girls remade

With besties who talk shit behind your back,

As you complain to me about how they behave.

You used to lie with me atop

a floor of pillows,

We’d sleep for hours into the afternoon.

Now you wear makeup,

Highlights in straightened hair

and no longer visit my room.

And we don’t talk but

I want you to kno...

It’s easy to get lost in the underworld,

In the styles of darkness and bone.

It’s easy to immerse yourself in its magic,

Forgetting the place you called home.

It’s easy to feel drawn to a different path,

Coaxed to a life not your own.

It’s easy to want to validate your wrath,

Even if it comes with a tombstone.

It’s easy, so easy, to dig yourself deep

In the pits that Hell can provide.

But believ...

My grandmother always told me

She loved me

But I never listened.

And now that she’s dead,

I can never be forgiven.

I wonder how she thought of me,

I wonder how she felt,

I wonder was she lonely,

Or content in her hell.

For she treated my mother like

A child of another,

Had her beaten apart by her own older brother,

Made her quit her job for a stranger’s wedding,

Attacked her character in every ...

I guess I’m out of practice,

But conversation flowed so easy

I got to know another one

Without worrying if he even sees me.

He’s ambiguous with gender

Critical in his thoughts

He has relationship experience

But emotional connection’s what he sought.

He likes Southern food

Though I can’t agree.

He enjoys playing games

In good company.

He drove me up an hour

To drive back the same alone

We sang ...

Sitting in a vc

At 9am,

We’re braining a storm

While wracking our heads.

A lyric,

A sonnet,

A bunch of regrets;

That string of words

That’ll make them mesh.

You’ve got tidbits of concepts

Such cruel irony,

Attempting a poem while

Sitting in a vc.

From transcribing

to hyperbolizing,

There’s options galore;

Keep the similes in line,

Take the routine

thesaurus tour.

Sift phrases from the trash,

...

I miss the days of easy intimacy

When I could step out of class and right into an embrace,

When lunchtimes could be spent with an easy arm over my shoulder,

When free moments came with hair ruffles

And cuddle puddles atop beanbags.

Giggles in the air, shuffling to get comfortable, until

The rest.

I miss that tranquility of intimacy.

When a hand would trace slow circles on my knee,

When fingers wo...

The pin dropped.

“HOW COULD YOU?!” Her arms flew in the air, slamming the door behind them as she took menacing steps toward him across the tiled floor.

“I didn’t know!” Hands held in surrender as he hid his face from her glare.

“How could you not know!” She seethed under her breath, suddenly remembering they weren’t the only ones in the building.

Her eyes held a fire he had only ever seen ...

Close enough to touch,

They swung and flew,

She danced,

He drew,

But the space only grew,

Until universes stood between them.

Unable to see or hear,

Much less fly,

The entwining of their lives

the consequence of one spider.

A web far out of their control...