it breaks like porcelain
the glaze
tiny hairline cracks
you paint it over
perfect again
until your anger flares so hot
shards fly
not at them
the people who said it
but at your own heart
for not being more than a
doll
when it happened

Spirits
That knew each other
In another life
Aren’t worried
About social formalities.
That’s why
We can’t control
The light
Shooting out of our smiles
When we greet
Each other.

Being your full self
All the time
Is a privilege
Granted to those
Who feel
Accepted

Let us make
A society
Where we don’t
Force
Some members
To fracture

Being whole
Must not be
A privilege
But a necessity
Of humanity

The ugly
That escapes your lips
Fired at me
Exposes
The harshness
You must talk to yourself
With

I will always
Greet the bullets
With kindness

I know
This is why
You like being around me
I am the warmth
You don’t yet know
To create
In yourself

Every person I see
Moving to their own beat
Creates an ache
In my heart
To know what their music
Sounds like.
Beats so strong
They drown out the need
To dance like everyone else.
I am careful
To celebrate their beauty
Without exclaiming too loud
About their differences
Should they not have realized it
And try to fit in.

I can’t turn your words
Into diagrams in my head
When politeness requires
Me to look you in the eyes
While you speak.
The only capacity my head can handle
Is pondering how that ring of brown
Oh so slowly
Changes to blue.

I see you
Quietly being original
So strong
You remain untouched
By any critical stares
Misguided your way
I want to hear
The thoughts
I know are safely playing
Inside your cocoon

Your words
Opened a window
In a room I didn’t notice
Had become stuffy
In my chest

I remember
Discovering a roll of tummy fat
That spilled over my waste band
When I sat in my little plastic chair
In first grade.
Suck that in before anyone sees!
Ladies don’t have tummy rolls.
I scolded myself.

I could not fathom
Then
I would repeat that action
Once a day
For 22 years.

Now I am a lady
Who leaves her tummy roll
Happily in view
For the world to marvel at.
Proud to do her part
To make people realize
They do not need to suck anything in.

I hope a 7 year old
Realizes
She contains nothing
That needs hidden.

even her statements
sound like questions
because she believes
nothing created in her head
can be right
in a world
that is not hers

the fault lies not
in her tendency
to sound unsure
but is rooted in the foundation
of the society that raised her
to believe
she is not a full member