ninestars

Sometimes
I wake up
And I just can’t
I can’t get up
I can’t go to school
I can’t go get my meds
Why?
Because sometimes
It’s too much
Accepting this world
Is just too much
And I just can’t
Make myself

For every woman being raped.

For every trans made illegal.

For every Native forced out of their home.

For every black person called “lesser.”

“Lizzyyyy….,” said Marie, twisting her chair around. “I thought I told you to get new shoes,” Marie says. Lizzy looks down at her shoes, caked with dirt and grime, broken from the hours she spent working on her family’s farm.

My head cold waits at my bedroom windowsill 

Tells me: 

‘No, you can’t do your homework. Lie back down and quit thinking so much.’ 

Tells me: 

As girls we’re taught many things at a young age. 

We’re taught what’s considered “ladylike,” and what’s not, 

Keeping us in line to better fit society's mold.

I'm so mad I can hardly write poetry anymore, 

every word rushes out and tumbles down, 

knocking the inside of my skull, 

a dull roar that follows me to school and home again.