This Town

The people run this town, The dusty roads and sweeping jacarandas. I am a driver, now a passive observer In the realm of my car, I am removed from the ebb and flow of daily life in this town Even with the windows down. We are now outside the jurisdiction of traffic laws My carContinue reading “This Town”

If this is the end

If this really is the endAnd you won’t be coming home,Then all of it is yours.The years, the friends, the tears.I can’t quite tell if I see you in everything I made this life of,Or if I made this life of everything I could see you in.But the point remains:You are the golden thread braidedContinue reading “If this is the end”

Another Life

Today, last year, it was all about us, And today, this year, it isn’t. We are not bearing the gifts you are waiting to receive, or giggling as we blow your balloons. They think they’re so lucky finding you, And they are.  Anyone is lucky to have you, But you were ours first. For aContinue reading “Another Life”

The Heart’s Melody

I remember composing an album after a traumatic loss. I usually turn to my writing to touch the depths of despair, but this time I reached for the piano keys. My fingers stumbled over them, slow but steady, eventually finding a melody congruent to the tempo of my heart’s desires. It’s never been my favorite, butContinue reading “The Heart’s Melody”

The Zanzibar Hotel Excerpt

We’re lying in the hammocks, The night air is thin but warm. My drink pours all over my leg, leaving a sticky trail of sour juice. We’re laughing until we’re not. Drunken laughter grips my brain, Possessing my entire body. O glances over her drink, her body rocking the hammock. The lights fill the undersideContinue reading “The Zanzibar Hotel Excerpt”

Confinement and Redress in Native Son

Bigger’s acts of aggression can’t be redressed by prison time, because they are ultimately a symptom of confinement. Throughout the novel Native Son, by Richard Wright, the protagonist Bigger suffers from excessive pressure from external influences. These external pressures are initially proposed as vague, fleeting senses of awareness of a truth so large it seemsContinue reading “Confinement and Redress in Native Son”

Religious and Punitive Parallels in The Color Purple

The role of religion in The Color Purple (1982) is a means of subconsciously maintaining the hold of carceral logic on characters. The Colour Purple, a novel by Alice Walker tells the story of an African American girl named Celie living in rural Georgia early 1800’s. The novel, told in epistolary format, details the abuse and lifelongContinue reading “Religious and Punitive Parallels in The Color Purple”

love of my life

love of my life i will abandon you not a harsh mistress but mine nonetheless a life of bleeding paper all the extremities of the heart to your madness i commit myself i bear your mark proudly at your service to you i present my blood and my flesh sever my soul from my bodyContinue reading “love of my life”

A Dying Garden

It’s crazy how the garden hardly looks beautiful anymore. I let the grass grow out, convinced length was the missing piece. Yes, that’s what I thought, that the short grass just wasn’t right. The azaleas are blue now. I’ve always admired them from afar, and now they grow in my garden, beautiful but out ofContinue reading “A Dying Garden”

As the lights dim

Inspiration, however mundane, sweeps you off your feet. Today, I’m inspired by the emptiness inside. It almost catches me off guard at times. I’ve just graduated high school, and where I should be feeling excitement, relief, and pride, I feel dread and regret. I desperately wish to wake up to any day prior to thatContinue reading “As the lights dim”