If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream- -and not make dreams your master;
......
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.
I come from a beautiful place
Where they hate my shade of skin
They don't like the way I pray
And they ban free poetry.
......
I ain't afeard uv snakes, or toads, or bugs, or worms, or mice,
An' things 'at girls are skeered uv I think are awful nice!
I'm pretty brave, I guess; an' yet I hate to go to bed,
For, when I'm tucked up warm an' snug an' when my prayers are said,
Mother tells me "Happy dreams!" and takes away the light,
An' leaves me lyin' all alone an' seein' things at night!
Sometimes they're in the corner, sometimes they're by the door,
Sometimes they're all a-standin' in the middle uv the floor;
Sometimes they are a-sittin' down, sometimes they're walkin' round
......
Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate,
Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving,
O, but with mine, compare thou thine own state,
And thou shalt find it merits not reproving,
Or if it do, not from those lips of thine
That have profaned their scarlet ornaments
And sealed false bonds of love as oft as mine,
Robbed others' beds' revenues of their rents.
Be it lawful I love thee as thou lov'st those
Whom thine eyes woo as mine importune thee.
......
I hate you.
I hate your perfect teeth,
And the way you smile so brightly.
I hate the way you part your hair,
And how it falls to your shoulders so nicely.
I hate the way you look at me,
When your eyes lighten up
and I can tell you're happy.
I hate how you say my name,
......
I hate you.
I hate your perfect teeth,
And the way you smile so brightly.
I hate the way you part your hair,
And how it falls to your shoulders so nicely.
I hate the way you look at me,
When your eyes lighten up
and I can tell you're happy.
I hate how you say my name,
......
She told him "I hate you," but he took it as a joke
Her smile was deceiving and her voice was relieving
He only saw an angel with a figure like an eight
And never bothered to take note of her repeated joke
He told her, " Look, I love you—I'll take a blow for you."
But she looked at him smiling as if his words were untrue
Yes, I know, but I still hate you because that is what I do
Again, he waved, but this time those words came sinking through
I see you working, defending me, and fighting for me
......
My poem.....
You think you kill me with your hateness. You hate murderously; in blood, in humanity.
Your poison has no place in our society.
The venom that seeps from your mouth have always been heard but will not pierce through and kill me.
Is it faith or fear? Is it your submission to a deity or one to your community?
Are you listening to the valid speech of god or the invalid words of your closest enemies......those opportunists, tearing your daughters. Those women with compassion, resilience, love and ambition.
......
Rotten memories
Glass breaking.
Doors slamming.
Yelling.
Staring at the hurricane in my home
I just stand still
what could an 8-year-old do.
Except stand and watch in fear.
My dad would throw things at everyone
......
Latoya Cantrell
You feckless fool...
This is a voodoo spell
To make you drool...
The voodoo priestess
Of New Orleans...
Will remove your wickedness
By any means...
......