Poetry

your features don’t contort when you cry.

tears skate down your face until they get caught

on the side of your nose 

or  the tip of your chin

I would never admit it, but

I’m broken. I have lived through a hell you only see in your nightmares. I was born into a world of agony and have stayed silent on the darkest of nights.

Just some little sentences, quick delights, really, jotted down on a tiny reporter's notebook during a flight from Burlington to Raleigh yesterday. Enjoy and remember that the world is full of delight!

I am eleven years old. I think freedom isn't what they say it is. 

I live in the land of the free. I am free 

in most ways. 

I can be a black belt. 

I can be a published poet. 

The poppies are too cheerful, squealing for even a tablespoon of attention.

Look at how they open wide like the mouth of a Siberian wild cat.

I told you I didn't want to receive flowers, chocolates, anything at all.

I wake up in a world that’s always moving, 

a second away from breaking. 
I scroll through the noise, 

and I wonder what happens when the screen goes dark. 

Winter: 

As frosty winds whisper, wrapping us in fear,

In winter's grasp, we gather near.

Underneath the snow-cloaked rooftops

We find warmth in each other.

They are the flow

from which all grow.

Every water molecule,

all very miniscule,

pass through the membrane

with no strain.

In and out,

up and down,

side to side

I hate you,

I hate the way you make me feel,

and the way you talk to me.

I hate how you look at me,

like no one else is in the room.

I hate how when I sit next to you,

We'll lie on the floor 

You're wearing the yellow hat I gave you

I'm wearing pajamas

We'll facetime and pretend 

We're not just like them 

We're not 

Are we 

1. Smile. Teachers like kids who smile, especially during classes when mind-numbingly boring concepts itch their way into your brain and eat away the inside. Yes, you don't like school. No, you can't say that. Smile, smile, smile.

If you've never missed someone,

you've never felt pain,

you have never felt what it's like to love someone so much that when they don't love you back it physically hurts inside you.