I found out today
That if I bleed
My own pain
On the page
It may not be
My own life
I save
If I slice words
Rather than
My Sacred skin
And holy flesh…
Some holier than thou
Soul is telling me how
I shouldn't desecrate
My temple…
Easy for them to say
When they don't
Have a cracked
Foundation…
Moving
Isn't a choice…
And Renovation is
An option
Only for the rich
My temple was born
And built
In a neighborhood
Where I would
Be discovering
Day after day
One thing to fix
Only to find
It was hiding another.
God only knows how many
Licks it will take
To get to the center
Of my tootsie pop…
She has a sick
Sense of humor
And it's obvious
My humors are
Out of wack…
But not so far
That I can't share
That it's been
A helluva day
I have to fight gravity
With levity
I don't give a rip
If this is contrived
Or contrite
BECAUSE I just might
Be saving a life.
So Sister of Pain
Brother of Suffering
Know you are not alone
When dad can't pull his head out of his ass
Or bottle
When mom can't be emotionally there
Because she can't afford her meds
When being gay is passé
But you are Latino
When the nightmares of an Arabic land
Haunt you because of the lives
You were forced to take
When your parents care more
About how you perform
Than how you love
When your child dies
Before you do
And nothing can fill the void
And so on
And so on…
So…
So whether it
Is your body that is broken
Your heart that is crushed
Or your soul that has grown cold
Fight.
Fight!
FIGHT!
YOU ARE NOT DONE YET!
There is another soul
That needs yours to live
Your story to be told
Your tears to be tasted
Your struggle to give them strength
To fight theirs.
Live.
Choose to live.
Choose life
Your life!
Because the life
You may be saving
Is more than just
Your own.