Campfire

how can something
so dangerous
be so comfortable

it’s like using a hug
to strangle someone

a chef’s knife
slides through kidneys, too

and every silver rain storm
that brings life
can take it away

these are the opposites
to life’s balances
the Yin and the Yang

nature just isn’t beautiful
she is red hot and smoldering

Congratulations

For all the graduates.

AJM


you are
beautiful
brave
and strong
you can do no wrong

work hard
work smart
remember to follow your heart

be kind
stay true
always make time for you

this is your life
follow those dreams
but don’t forget to wear sunscreen

read books
and laugh lots
always look in your blindspot

aim high
know when to go slow
and always remember the below:

chase your dreams
but don’t forget
there is still so much that hasn’t happened yet

what would the world look like

Yesterday, I did a little research and reading about Juneteenth, and I was inspired to write this poem. Slavery should not have happened. It should have never started to begin with in the 16th century.

I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the day, learning something new, and enjoying time with family and friends. Happy Juneteenth!

AJM


what would the world look like 

if no one decided
that men, women and children
were no better than savages
because of their skin color
because they didn’t live in houses
with picket fences
and cobbled stones

if no one said
i’ll take this one and then that one
stuffed them into watery cages
where people suffered, died and bled

if no one said
work this land or we’ll kill you
or rape your women, or beat your children
you’ll know no life other than terror
you’ll know no life other than work
to feel the rotten sting of shame
to not know your self worth

what would the world look like

if someone had said
show me where you come from
i’d like to understand

if someone had listened

would they know
their crime would crush
hundreds of generations

what would the world look like

if someone had
backed away
took themselves home
and worked the land themselves

Original Songwriting: Embracing Pain and Love Forever

Sometimes, the muse strikes at the most interesting times. I found myself awake at 8 am Sunday morning, having woken up from a dream where I was writing a song with someone. The dream I remember…barely. It was a hodgepodge of balconies and bathrooms that never end, a situation where I made a promise to someone, I was in trouble, my heart was broken, someone had stolen something, on the run from the mob or in some kind of Bridgeton reinactment…my heart thinks maybe the latter because I remember dresses and a lot of regency-inspired costumes, but anyway, in the dream, I was writing a song about heartbreak and here’s what I came up with. It might be something, it might be nothing, but I also thought, not bad for someone who wasn’t conscious, hah.
~AJM



Just looking to find the time
to write down these thoughts of mine
but they hurt
they hurt

But pain makes you stronger
regret is for lovers
pain is a testament
that love is forever

So let it rain
so let it rain
so let it rain

it’s okay, stop crying

she is crying
her nails are too short
chewed down to the quick
she sobs
it’s hard to stay in the lines

it’s okay, we say
stop crying

when we should be singing
you’re beautiful
even beauty has
it’s unclean edges

we think we reassure her
but really
we wave her feelings aside
like a bad smell
we don’t have time for

it’s okay
stop crying

my heart breaks
thinking of it

when she’s grown
how often will she think
her feelings don’t matter

Social Anxiety

i wish i could find what’s missing
what makes doing and going someplace new
feel like i’m trudging through a battlefield
except artillery and rifle fire
are the unfamiliar places and people
where everything is bright and too loud
shadowy people with waxy faces
an alien dream
this is my nightmare

“i’m sure it’ll be fine”
is the social balm
for my nothing problem
doesn’t make me feel better
who’s scared to go places
freak

i’m exhausted
my mind is spinning and spinning like
i’m running for my life
i’m trying to dodge thoughts and possibilities
they pop out at me like too-tall cartoon characters, clowns with bleeding make-up and boulders waiting to crush me
imagining conversations with strangers like there is a ringing in my head
dragging my thoughts together
like a bunch of trampled papers
fearing words that might come out wrong, a response or joke i hear incorrectly
the more i know about myself
the more i think, i am in the world differently
i ask my therapist
what does it matter, she says
a proper diagnosis
is too expensive