Holiday cheer

spread it around for all to hear
the times you are joyous can be counted like flakes on the tree
this year, spread the cheer by being the joy
you were never able to fully recieve.

Diversity pick

There is a bell sounding in the distance
when you mispronounce my name
that is as common as wind on your street

there is another sounding bell when you speak
of my language as a sister to the one
my enemy uses to force me to subdue my anger
into a little ball of stress

there is noise and hunger
when you paint my features
with lighter colors to make sure they fit
your designated rainbow

there is screaming when you tell me
you mention me to others
the way you mention a badge you've earn
running marathons for cases above you.

a different version of empathy

You tell me:
befriend your pain
but it is not your own back that has a knife planted in its center.

The TV shows me

The TV shows me fire
screams at me with slogans and rocks
all I see is mothers and daughters waiting
for their loved ones to return

a muted celebration

How to do you dare to celebrate
when the world around you burns down
you mute the noise, that is the first step
then you light a candle
then you blow it
then you wish, like a five year old child
you wish that by the turn of the year
it turns better, this,
this is how you cultivate hope

I carry the music

I carry the music in me,
to help me batter death
like an egg leftover for too long

I carry the music in me
like a faith that I had to find
missing like a grain of wheat

I carry the music in me
like an ache that has been
transported on the keys of the piano

I carry the music in me
like a shield that will keep
the march forward going steady
regardless of the rain or shine

here, in the words

Here in the words
I throw out
what I can never fully dispose of, every day.