It's October,
but Margo is still wearing a short summer skirt
it's Monday
and Margo should be walking with me 
Laughing
Cheeks flush in the crisp autumn morning
warm hand in mine as as we make our way to school
as we turned onto main street
she'd be telling me how crazy her brother drove her this morning
and how lucky I was to be an only child

the memory's so close 
but it's just that 
a memory 
I"m alone

Margo's not walking to school with me
even though it's monday 
She's asleep
her skin pale 
her voice still 

they buried her on a wendsday 
a couple weeks before school started


It's October,
but Margo is still wearing a short summer skirt
and everyday
the memory of her laugh gets farther away


 

I fell in love with a tin woman 

she had a hole inside her chest
where her heart was meant to live
but nothing filled the space

she showed it to me one day
we were sitting in the grass, on a hill

she said she didn't remember where she lost it
to a man she once loved or in a bet, or to the salty, salty sea
who knows maybe one day it just fell out and she never noticed

I took my own heart in my hands
and told her to put it in her chest and keep it as her own

we stayed happily, with my heart beating in her chest for many years
one day she told me to open my hands and she gave me a bird, to replace what I gave her
she said me she loved me and wished she could stay with me forever, but now she had to go away 

I fell in love with a tin woman one day she had to leave
I gave her my heart because she had none to call her own 

and she gave me a bird

I stand waiting 
in front 
of a little cafe 
(it's my first date)
the one downtown
(it's my first date)
on church street 
(it's my first date)
with the purple awning
(IT'S my first date)
excited 
(IT'S my FIRST date)
tapping my foot
(IT'S my FIRST date)
twisting the hairtie on my wrist
(IT'S my FIRST date)
skirt of my burnt orange dress blowing in the wind
(IT'S MY FIRST date)
hair pulled into a braid down my back
(IT'S MY FIRST date)
gold snake necklace and earrings
(IT'S MY FIRST DATE)
I look nice

If fear were standing in front of you
it would be tall 
and thin
and beautiful 
the kind of beautiful 
that is more terrifying 
than the most ugly 
twisted monster that hell could ever birth

and dressed
in some ever changing medley of colors
that dredges up something awful 
in the pit of your stomach
and desperately makes you want to look away

its cold dead eyes
would be void 
devoid
of purpose or meaning 
reaching into your soul

its smile may
be the worst part 
a giant twisted grin
no emotion behind it 
solidifying the fact that the thing 
you are seeing 
is not and could never be 
human


it would be confident
not unwarrantedly so
it can very easily take all your power 
and twist it to
its own demands 

you look at it and 
you feel sick
the sickest you've ever felt 

what makes a person human?

can someone be human and not be a person

is the word still someone if you're not a person?
 

A girl in a blue sweater
she has one hand in her pocket
in the other hand is plastic bag of books
she's walking
she gets to a street
and checks the street sign
then walks down the middle of the road
she looks around
then pulls out her phone 
seemingly texting someone
she moves to the side of the road 
to avoided a car
she comes to a house 
she looks at the house
deciding if it's the correct one
she comes to a decision
walks down the driveway 
comes to the back door 
knocks lightly 
hangs the bag on the door
she walks back up the driveway
walks back up the middle of the road
someone pokes their head out the door 
and says hi to the girl
the girl says hi back 
pulls out her phone 
texts someone
puts the phone away
and keeps walking
both hands in her pockets now
free of the bag of books
she walks back the way she came

 

Life is colors and if you look hard enough you can always see them.

We were, now we are not and  you should learn from our mistakes.

I hold the right to read 
to find 
to discover 
to work my way though
and then think
and draw my own conclusions

Kids have the right to see  themselves
In book pages
because 
black kids exist
kids with ADHD exist
asian kids
gay kids
disabled kids
kids with only one parent at home
autistic kids
trans kids
kids with agit
Muslim kids 
native American kids
non brainy kids
boys who like dresses or make up or showing emotions
kids who's parents are immigrants
kids who are adopted
pregnant teens
and so many others
exist

and 
kids deserve to see
how other people live
and 
learn
and draw there own conclusion

kids are people with 
thoughts
and 
ideas
and 
opinions
that they have the write to figure out
themselves
 and
kids need to be given the 
tools to do so

1. no matter what don't pretend to be the expert 
I don't care If you know everything ever written about racial injustice
I don't care if you have a million black friends
I don't care if you have spent hours listening to interviews trans people
that doesn't mean you've lived it

2. Listen more than you talk 
the more you listen 
the learn how people are thinking
the better you can actually be helpful

3. talk with not over
use your voice
your privilege 
to help amplify other people

4. this is not about you 
even when you are fighting for your own rights 
it's still not about you
so when you are helping someone else 
it's really not about you

Note this is Not a complete list 
this is just some stuff I know