The world has ended for me more times than I care to remember, more time than I care to count something about my soul being too sensitive for this world something about desperation and frustration embedded in me since I was a little kid every slight, every roll of the eyes feels like an earthquake inside everything is intensified twice
took a picture of a dying cicada without its consent didnβt even know what it was until I googled its picture I just thought something so vibrant and colorful dying was beautiful just thought this is the closest Iβll come to nature in this unforgiving july heat and then I discovered cicadas signify transformation, rebirth, and resilience so it made sense to me why I noticed it something so small, almost insignificant everyone else would walk by it but I, about to have another transformation I never asked for was attracted to it, noticed it, observed it closely, perhaps, it was my own spirit reflecting my current ego death as Iβm about to level up to the next version of m
People watching days are over, this Song era is now my reality no more longing or yearning over what could have been or what I once upon a time wanted it to be instead I focus on the genuine and loving connection in front of me the one whoβs not afraid of the creative beast who resides in me and makes me feel heard and seen even if sometimes that seems cringe or weird Especially after I admitted I had watched him while he slept this time he allows me to him without flinching when I tell him heβs the new muse of my poetry and heβs brave enough to share his feelings without shame and reminds me of all the things he likes about me the one who feels like my sanctuary to lay my love and poetry in
donβt judge others for the life you havenβt lived- not everyone has had the same privileges or self awareness as you some of us hardly had time to process one trauma before facing the next one and unhealthy coping mechanisms were placed itβs how a lot of us learned to live our lives with our emotional gloves and armor always ready
the rocking chair tells a story about the white working class for the past 60 years from grandfather to father to sons from the greatest generation to the boomer generation to the boomer generation and skipped all the way to the zoomer and alpha generation (side note: the boomer knocked up a pretty little millennial thing in his late 40βs)
the rocking chair has seen the first man on the moon to the alpha losing his shit when tik tok went dark for several hours
the rocking chair tells a story of the white working class from breaking the generation curse of illiteracy to educational achievements from factory days to caseworker days to bolton hall days
the rocking chair holds the dreams, the hopes, the struggles of 4 generations of the white working class
Iho Place was my teenage dream that ended up in a nightmare thatβs where my Papi bought our first computer and how I wound up in an AOL chatroom for singles it would seal a fate I had not intended flirting with and meeting strange men would lead me to some dire consequences I got into my first toxic relationship who ghosted me after he went to rehab for his drug problem and I dissociated after the pain of abandonment I was desperate for love and validation and I met a man the man who I would make a baby with Iho Place saw the first 9 months of my son and the start of my relationship with depression looking back-maybe it was also the start of my BPD I remember walking with headphones and losing time it was hard to be at home with my parentβs silence and disap
sometimes I think my sins are the most interesting things about me Perhaps, thatβs why I worship them and keep making poems out of them Especially when I start to lose faith in myself especially when I start lose faith in myself and the universe and fill myself up with self hate and self loathing to crash out fantastically with pen and paper and write masterpieces
Kam Highway would see many changes in our family three teenagers in one house, our parents were saints at first we lived in abject poverty trying to find change in the secondhand couch for ramen or popcorn chicken or anything to put food in our tummies this apartment saw the awkwardness of my adolescence saw my brother almost fall into the wrong crowd saw my sister fall in and out of love until she finally landed her first husband next door and we had a pizzeria next door and also the interesting neighbors like the marine next door who beat his unfaithful wife or Tipper the stripper who was in a toxic relationship with the landlordβs son their song was Kiss and Say Goodbye by the Manhattans and the fun thanksgivings with all of the neighbors
my childhood was not easy and at times full of chaos good to inspire my creativity, one where I never needed much imagination since real life served up a lot of telenovela energy from toxic family dynamics to immigrant trauma to the ghetto melrose place in hawaii my childhood felt like a constant barrage of episodes where the adults couldnβt keep it together
beautiful women possess a certain kind of power itβs the power to bring men to their knees with just one kiss or make them fall in love with the prowess of their sexuality theyβre lionesses and make men their prey
Eventually I had to come up for air from my bubble and live in the real world where bills are piling up, people continue to crash out on my social media feed, and I face a constant existential dread constantly wondering if I am doing enough
Iβm paid less than everyone according to the statistics and itβs simply because of my ethnicity and gender at times I get mad about this but then Iβm like, it is what it is and wonβt change in the near future instead I continue to work hard for my and my kids betterment and try my best to live out my immigrant dream
your lips on mine taste like happiness on steroids is this what they call joy is this what they call euphoria are you the happy ending Iβve searching for since the age of 15 are you the reason that I want to burn down every poem inspired by lovers that arenβt yo
we hear the ice cream truck and we beg mami for money we tell her to hurry before the ice cream truck realizes heβs in the hood she gives us all of the change in her purse and all of us run to the ice cream truck my favorite is a fudgesicle it taste like an almost normal childhood
one last hit before we have to call it quits before we have to move on to new love stories before we have to grow up and forget our Alice and Peter personas and try to find something mature, something healthy, something long lasting