Tag: paula

by PAULA

Two men,
Too young.
Too early, they went too early.
Candlelight memorial to remind you that
Bullets aren’t prejudiced.

We can all take a lesson from that.
Focused on who someone wants to marry,
How dark their skin is, how big their lips are,
Whether they have on
North Face or K-Mart;
It’s none of our business.

It makes me ashamed to be part of this generation.
Thinking we have to
Call everyone out on their old 23s,

But grandma just couldn’t afford new ones this paycheck.
You know, she’s got them co-pays for her
Chemotherapy medicine.

The news is filled with guilty police and celebrity suicides.
Whitney Houston, Robin Williams, made
Billions
And it wasn’t enough.

You better toughen up.
Step up your game or you’ll get trampled in a stampede.

But, us?
We’re just another brigade of tired seniors
Trudging through.
Write your essay.
Do the cheat sheet for the test.
Check your email, waiting on that acceptance letter
Like you do every morning.

It feels like every time I reach for the stars I burn up in the atmosphere,
See, there’s
Too much pressure.

With three hours of homework, a job, sick parents,
You’re still expected to come to school smiling and on time.
And sometimes I swear it’s all too much,
But that diploma is getting closer by the day, close enough to taste, close enough to frame.
And we’re hanging on.

Cause I gotta make a name for myself in this world,
Past this town full of wanna be’s,
Wish I coulda been’s, and
God damn I never was.

Good ol’ Johhny boy
Had a chance to make it big.
He was blessed, intrinsic talent,
Spit the bars like it was his nature.
He had an affinity for fame but
The cocaine got the best of him, and he picked up that 45 and never looked back.

We’re living in a world where we question the intentions of our law enforcement.

Worried about which Kardashian got a new butt,

Worry about passing English instead.
Worry about the girl who tried to OD because you kept calling her a dyke.
Worry about where you’ll be five years from now
Without a bachelor’s degree,
Because you just couldn’t get your shit together.

Man,
I’m telling y’all,
Keep thinking it’s a game and you’ll come in last.

Y’all striving for the fast lane,
Slow down, baby girl.
It’s not like anyone makes it out of here alive.

by PAULA

Dropped everything
for you
once again. Just like
you never left.

Big brown eyes, strong arms,
consuming me in a way
much less than what I’m used to.
Breath stopped, hitched, caught.

Caught up in the way you
looked at me, in a way much
different than what I’m used to.
Swear I thought I’d never
see you again, but here I am.

5 years gone, and I miss
my best friend, miss having
long talks all night.

Miss you holding me when I
drop tears like bombs, like time-
bombs sensitive to the advancement
of my life, unattached to you.

you tossed me like a grenade
and swallowed the key
like I had to swallow my dreams
of us.

Because people grow up,
grow apart, grow used to
separate lives.

And now I’m alone grinning
and bearing it, alone without you,
in a way much less than
what I’m used to.

by PAULA 

white lights, red and blue ones, too
white-hot fire in my stomach
bile in my throat
someone, overpower the white noise
and me,
screaming, “white supremacy”

it makes me sick

I am not my ancestor’s mistakes
no longer influenced by their ignorance
though I live with the repercussions
they say I’ve never known racism
because I’m of a light tone
I need more Coppertone at the beach
not extravagant enough in my preaching
but i grew up in a family
where being called a “n*****-lover” was
thrown in my face, laid on the
table everyday over dinner

not so much anymore

they grew used to my differing opinions
the kind where the amount of melanin
in your skin does not have an effect
on the amount of love I can give you
so it hurts
it really hurts when the assumption
is that I’m racist, just another
white girl
ready
to yell “hate crime!”

by PAULA and HANNAH

I am
static, clinging
to your body,
your woolly sheets,
the carpet
stained with shadows.
I’m stuck on you,
to
you, making my lips frizz
as you pull away.
Wanna
zap you back up,
implore
you to stay, make your way
back
into my salty demeanor,
cleaner
than dryer sheets.

by PAULA

Have you ever been
sick
and tired
of being tired?
and sick with worry?
trying to please the world saying “please” for things I should already have.
But what can I do but laugh it off… when it feels to hard,
I shuffle
the cards and deal again
can’t always explain my feelings,
instead,
I drive away. Shoulda’
dealt with ’em
even though it felt like quicksand.
Gotta stick it to the man!
and get up everyday, get
ready.
Tie my shoes,
not much else to do… liven’ in a dreamland.