Give me your tired, your poor...
Oh, wait. I mean
Give me your old, entitled, white men, your billionaire businessmen, yearning for more money
They are the wretched refuse on our teeming shore
Send thee, only straight, white males, no persons of color, females, or transgender
The room has grown dark, and we’ve closed the door
😒😒
–AJM
maybe it feels silly
to call you valentine
but i feel warm
while the snow blows outside
I hope everyone had a really nice Valentine’s day last week. Honestly, we all need the love on these cold February days.
AJM
the second week of February
hit me pretty hard
I’m low on serotonin
scraping ice off my car
the winter wind
is biting at my face
as we try to stay warm
to insulate our place
the heat bill is so high
we’ll have to sell a kidney
just to pay are rent
(I’m really not kidding)
then in world news
a president breaking laws
an ignorant population
who can’t see his flaws
I’m struggling to stay awake
’cause I don’t really sleep
to wake up from this nightmare
watch the promises he keeps
snow melts and freezes
the road goes black to white
I’m on the sofa sneezing
will anyone stand and fight?
no one told me
that when you get older
those friends you saw everyday
won’t be around as much
those girl shopping days
nights out at the bar, dancin’
or slumber parties
don’t happen as often
because we’ve got families
and adult responsibilities
and making plans
is like getting the planets to align
and one one told me
that one night
you’ll watch a video
about two friends
and it’ll bring back a sudden ache
for those carefree nights
where a drink at a bar and a DD
were the only things we were worried about
and no one told me
that you’ll miss your friends
like a promise you can’t keep
like a cloud that blew across the sun
a hollow longing
that hollars down an empty road
and that one day
we got together for a slumber party
wished on stars together
and told secrets
for the last time
when things get rough
when i feel trapped
by my responsibilities
i look up at the night sky
and think
…at least i’m still free
🥺 Our future here in the US is so uncertain. I’m scared of what our future looks like. No, I’m terrified. I’m so glad I get to watch the world burn around me because of someone I didn’t vote for. 🙄
AJM
I had a dream my dad went to live
at a golf course on the moon
and the only reason he went
was because my uncle told him to
there was a constant summer sun
in a long, flat expanse of green
a domed space that went on forever
and the people there were mean
I knew he was uncomfortable
I could see it in his face
because for some reason, I went with him
to this golf course in outer space
Because I thought we could use some silliness this month. And I’ve started this thing where I write poems of actual dreams I’ve had. This poem made my Dad laugh.
It has been soo cold. January is kicking my butt physically and mentally, and I just have to endure. I can make it through. The new presidency has me super depressed, so I am just going to read. How many books can I make it through? I am currently reading four…two audio books and two other books. A memoir, a YA science fiction adventure, an urban fantasy, and an epic fantasy romance. Variety is the spice of life. Maybe I should throw another genre in there.
AJM
shining in
the inky black
i tip my head back
and dream
I had a dream I lived under water
in a station on the sea floor
We studied sharks and sea creatures
hoping we could learn more
The station walked on four legs
like a squat robot made of stone
we traveled deep and traveler far
a few of us called it home
I remember the color of the canyon
an orange-brown of cracked dirt
Yellow-green Marine life with extra frills
like maybe we weren’t on earth
Nothing else happened in the dream
we just lumbered on some more
searching for what we couldn’t find
we were made to learn and explore
how many heroes
are lost to time
because of their skin color
how many women
forgotten
because of their sex
and if you’re a woman of color
you’re a ripped page
out of someone’s notebook
trampled into obscurity
until someone with power
or money
plucks your story into the light of day
the hardest thing
about growing up
or growing old
is the relationships you grow out of
love may be infinite
but time doesn’t mean
you’ll be in the same place
or the same time
always
eventually
you have to admit
that how you once meant to somebody
is now different
she’s not a baby anymore
she’s on her own path now
you blinked
and missed the old one
but
how you wish
like you could grasp it in your hand
a wish like squiggly worms
you wish
you could zip along, too
Once again (sigh), it’s not Monday. I’ve been toying with the idea of switching to Tuesday and Wednesday posts.
Wrote this one last night. It’s difficult for me to watch my nieces and nephews get older. For some reason, it’s like I always thought they’d be little. Maybe in my eyes they still are. Even though they’re not. 😭
–AJM
A. J. Morse 