den

16

[poemsarenotcool]

Catullus in Modern Music. 

[poemsarenotcool]

This song has meant a lot to me for a very long time. My mother named me after Nina Simone and I want to fight for the rights of the black man like she did. Nina Cried Power by Hozier

a tribute to the black lives matter movement

[poemsarenotcool]

lmao this is not revolution we aren’t overthrowing the government what? We are however fighting for long overdue systematic change similar to what our ancestors did in the 1900s

I understand that, however the term revolution doesn’t always mean to overthrow a government. In some cases it means to overthrow a social order in favor of a new system. Changing the police system in America and deconstructing the systemic racsim will have to look somewhat like the revolutions in history to accomplish the goal.

[poemsarenotcool]

I wrote my last post on the brink of historical protests in America and the past few days have put several things on my mind. One of those things is revolution.

Generation Z has been given the tools and the power to change this country for the better. Whether that be through peace or any means necessary.

Revolution will come. Think back to the French revolution, the Haitian revolution, for christ’s sake the American revolution. Look to Robespierre, Toussaint Louverture, Hamilton, Simon Bolivar.

Young people have always had the power to evoke change. Power that now stems from the anger and frustration of 400 years of oppression. And if you choose to ignore that power or even condemn it, you are on the wrong side of history. And you better believe that this time THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED.

[poemsarenotcool]

Justice For All Just Ain’t Specific Enough: thoughts by a 15 year old black girl.

This isn’t a poem, but it’s my life.

I know that I have to work harder than others to get into a good college or university just like my parents worked hard to be some of the first in their family to graduate from college. I know that I have to work harder because I am a black woman. I’ve been told that from the moment I was born. I must love the skin that I’m in, but know that it brings disadvantage, pain, and oppression. The facts of the world are that black people are killed for their very existence. And when I say BLACK LIVES MATTER I mean that we matter and that we shouldn’t be scared to be BLACK.

White people to say that they “don’t see color”, but they should see color. The color is there and it affects the everyday lives of black people. We are different in culture and in skin color, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have the same respect, opportunities, and value of life. 

Racism shouldn’t be a partisan issue but it is. Republicans actively work against black people’s attempts to gain a foothold in the modern economy and shove them into this system of mass incarceration. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan made that possible. Not decriminalizing marijuana silences the black plight and oppression.

When kids are young, they are asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?”. When I was asked this question, for as long as I could remember, I answered, “I want to be the president of the United States”, and usually that garnered a few laughs. People never have believed that I could do it, and they think that I will give up on this “silly dream”. Even if I don’t make it to the highest office of the land, I want to fight for black people in America. I want to stand up for those who don’t have a voice. Justice for all just ain’t specific enough. With that all said and done, black lives still and will always matter.

[poemsarenotcool]

Chocolate Chips

the truth is i’ve loved you forever

we’ll settle down

live in an orchard by a stream

away from prying eyes and judgmental looks

I want to hold your hand

I want to tell you how much I care about you

but I can’t

too many reasons

too many tears

but never too many chocolate chips

[poemsarenotcool]

Choices

Nobody comes to me anymore

They don’t come for help or for comfort

I tell them, “I'm not good with emotions”

When really I’m just desensitized

I’ve been changed by the things bigger than me

I've been changed by the things inside of me

The physical aspect tries to tear me apart

But the mental fights to keep me together

It’s affected me to the core

Changed the way I see the world

And changed the way the world sees me

I didn’t even cry when she took her own life

Does that make me a monster

How did this happen

How did I get like this

It's not just desensitization

It's the things that have become normal

The killing, the bombing, the shooting

The hate

God made the world with a foundation of togetherness

Now it's being pulled apart by evil

The mental or the physical

It’s society’s choice

[poemsarenotcool]

China Doll

She’s graceful

With grace comes delicacy

She breaks on impact

Pressure and force cause ripples through her surface

One thing truly causes the first crack

One pinpoint

Stress and anxiety chip away at the beautiful exterior

Revealing what is underneath

This delicate graceful beauty is not hollow

She is filled with pain and trauma of which only a soldier knows

Her inside is solid and tough

That makes her no less graceful

[poemsarenotcool]

Yourself

You hate yourself, so why should you hate me any less

You starve your body of the thing that it craves the most

Whether that thing be physical or mental

You do it because you want to be someone else

Anything but yourself

You think I only loved you when you changed

You think I only noticed you because you were starving

I keep telling you how much I love you for you

But it’s never enough

One day, you’ll leave

You’ll sing a song of sorrow for the love you’ve lost

But that day is not today

Today you’ll smile through the pain

You’ll tell me that you love me

But how can you

When you don’t even love yourself

[poemsarenotcool]

Real Boys Don’t Cry

Real boys don’t cry

He has to keep everything within

Unrequited love stings deep

He aches for attention

Attention from a person who will never notice him

Attention from the people he loves the most

They don’t see that he is hurting

All they see is happiness in streams of radiation

He calls out for help

No one can hear him

It’s like he is screaming into nothingness

Asking a bottomless void for help

He knows it will never come

The boy finds the wailing cathartic in a way

He shrieks until his voice is gone

Screaming is better than crying

Anything is better than crying

Because real boys don’t cry

[poemsarenotcool]

Peachy Keen

I met a boy

Kind and gentle

Going through hell

But he stilled carried me out first

He calms me when he is the one hurting

I try to help him

Wallowing in his own pain while trying to help mine

I met a boy

Sweet, cool, and soft

He’s like a peach

Reminding me of home

His southern charm

Sweeps me into a world without hurting

When I am down he shares his sweetness

Almost like a peach

He is peachy keen

[poemsarenotcool]

Thrive

Above the surface everything is fine

Pain lies beneath the polished exterior

His happiness comes from accomplishment

A feeling of belonging

He’s helpful comforter

He brings peace to all but himself

He’s waiting to be saved by a love that will never come

Everything is fine

Flames of pain break free

Not even accomplishment can extinguish it

It can only be covered

Harboured from the nourishment needed to survive

He wants to be saved

Letting the pain thrive

[poemsarenotcool]

War and Peace

War and peace

Mostly war

No peace in her eyes

The line she creates between herself and the world

Shielding battles of morality

Long and drawn out campaigns

Bloody fights between sanity and mourning

All goodness and hope has been lost

When there is no hope there is no morale

The fighting loses its sting

Now it's only pain

No more peace

No war even

Only pain behind her own battle lines

[poemsarenotcool]

Semper

I loved you for so long

Foreign and a fresh take

Sweet, sweet boy

Kind-hearted and confused

I was your first friend

You never loved me

Many hints were dropped

As well as tears

Then the tears stopped

You changed

No more kind-hearted

No more starry-eyed boy in a new place

The one I once loved now lost

Lost in a society that oppresses me

Lost in his appetites and hunger

I yearn for the first boy to return

My love will never show his face again

That sweet, sweet boy is gone forever

Forever Lost