Acceptance.

You can't control the uncontrollable
but that doesn't stop me from trying
or my heart from clenching
or my eyes from crying.

Yet I can't shed the tears
that are stuck in my throat
verbal drops of rain
come out in lines I wrote

on another day
about another time
about the victim's family
of a murderless crime

because death doesn't always stem from murder
although I'm pretty sure part of me just died.
or at least that's how I interpret
these feelings that just won't subside
I wish to be rid of them;
believe me, I've tried
because whoever said it's better to have loved and lost
well, they lied.

Losing who you love
is a pain that is beyond words.
beyond measure
beyond impulses in your nerves

reflexes that tell you to pull your hand away
from something that burns
simply can't respond
to life's emotional turns

So instead we take the lemons of lessons we're given
to make lemonade- and we learn.

But you can't learn how to ease the clenched fist grip
on your vital organs
your heart
your stomach
your lungs
you want to speak out
but only taste numbness on your tongue

it's nearly impossible to function
until you remember to breathe
sobbing, heaving, hysterical gasps
when you're reminded
that this life
never lasts.

It's the loss of potential
the weight of things unsaid
that make me crazy
being locked up in my head.

things you'll never hear again
like "I love you"
because there's nothing else to say
that would ring so true.

But I feel like i'm going mad
because I can't remember
the last time I hugged you
possibly june, and now it's december?

So while you can't hear my voice
I hope that you know
I'm so happy I had you there
to support me and watch me grow
and I send my love with you
wherever you may go.

Missing you.

I'm always missing someone.
Just when I've got it all figured out
there's a person I've left behind.

Not by choice.
Not willingly.
but it just... happened.

Like so many other things in this life that just.... happen.
And so many others that just don't.

But i'm tired of leaving people behind.
Friends and family.
sisters, related and discovered.

Maybe humans are destined to be lonely
loved and comforted
but alone.

save for those lucky moments when we're surrounded
by those who really care about us.

but someone will always be left out.
be left behind.
so I guess we just have to pick up the rest of the pieces
and let the rest of life
just.... happen.

Normal

In case you don't already know this
I'm superwoman.

No, seriously.
I have the cape and everything.
It's a bright red cape that I like wearing out
on random occasions
my most recent outing to look super?
Trader Joe's.
complete with a black t shirt and a rhinestone pink studded S on the front.
and my screaming fire engine truck red cape.
that I wear in public.
Just because I can.

I saw someone I knew
while pushing my super shopping cart
down aisle 5
and they laughed nervously, as though my sanity was questionable
based on the fact that I was draped in a cape
and asked
"why aren't you normal?"

Normal?
the definition for normal is "conforming to the standard or the common type."
synonym: the average, or mean.

Well I've never been mean
and I was always taught to achieve above average.

but you're talking about normal.
to me.

we live on a ball of molten rock
covered in water and dirt
that is spinning and spinning and spinning
around a giant ball of FIRE.
and you... want to talk to me about normal?

Yes, that makes sense.
because I can walk outside
and see a tiny wormlike caterpillar
that should stay looking like a fuzzy version of my pinky finger
but no
it gorges itself on the energy around
and wraps itself so tight in a cocoon
and REARRANGES IT'S BODY PARTS
and so this tiny little line of black fur
emerges
with delicate wings
so thin that they break if they're touched
but those wings
bear our little caterpillar to the sky
bright blue, shimmering wings
that looks like a piece of the ocean took flight.
and yet, you're standing here talking to me about normal

as one of my peers
you of all people shouldn't want to talk about normal
our generation is better at talking through keyboards and LED screens
than actually holding a face to face conversation
I mean
look at you right now.
you're awkward standing here talking to me
because I don't fit into your definition
of "normal".

Please tell me one person
whose name appears on the pages of a history book
who was called "normal" during their time.
Was Dr. King normal? Was ghandi normal? Aristotle, Julius Cesear, Jane Goodall, Pablo Picasso, Frida Khalo, Barack motherfucking Obama?!
they broke the mold
but who says there is a mold?
everyone is hand crafted
there is no mold
unless you're talking about last week's lunch in the back in the back of your fridge
in which case I can't help you
they were out of the ordinary
extra-ordinary
and I'm not saying that I'll achieve as much as they have
all I'm saying

is you might want to think about your definitions
before you try to define me.