Empathy 8.15.12 Bronx, New York

Empathy
The rawest of human experience
To feel what you feel
To experience your emotions vicariously
To absorb the energy of your pain
To have the same chemicals run through my brain
To feel released when you do
To feel pain like you do
This is the life I lead
And don’t make me feel more crazy
Than the world has already taught me “I am”
I feel what you feel
I am true to myself
Don’t tell me to be
Someone else

Sleep

It is when the night hits
The dust of the day has settled
The pre-sleep prayers are said
That the doors of my heart open,
the emotions and longings flood,
and I yearn for you.
If only we would dream side by side tonight
If only I could hold and be held in your body at the same time
If only the intimacy of your touch could be as near as my pillow
If only you were my Floppy,
that I hold tightly with affection

One day my dream of dreaming beside you,
will be a dream come true

Just "with time" 11.8.12

Just with time
The heart is supposed to forget
The space you took to
make it melt?

11/21/12

It's the moment when the coffee hits
Boom
Pop
wow
It's like that
Tie up your bootstraps
go forward towards the light
Positively so

12/10/12

What matters more?
That you check it off the list?
Or the experience of doing it?
Heart right
Priorities straight

Anxious thoughts 12/18/12

I want to stop thinkin the thoughts that give me anxiety
I want to have a mind that is free

Some people will look back and think,
"I knew that chick. I gave her a __ and she sucked my __"
As if they have ownership over me
Well, that was in the past
They didn't last
And everything I gave I take back
Everything you gave I use to build these rhymes
You're no longer on my mind as I'm living my purposeful grind

So I gave and took
Made your thing shook
To add more whiteness to the world
And one day, a real man's whiteness is gonna be the seed for my babygirl

12/13/12
And the pain of the fact is that I violated myself,
It ain't nothin else

HAPPINESS 12/18/12

Do you want happiness?
If you really want happiness get ready for the battle, get ready for the struggle, get ready for the pain
All the worlds rich will tell you happiness ain’t somethin to:
Buy
Find
Or
Possess
Happiness is in your chest
It’s in you
When you turn your attention inside
Not run or hide
But face
The darkness of the place that is you,
Work to bring out the light,
Then you’ll find happiness
Go through the uncomfortable
Put yourself out to be vulnerable
Act on the voice inside
Truly trust yourself
Happiness is inside you

It’s not something you can get from another
Or give to another
It’s something you work for. fight for. and pursue only for yourself

It’s not easy in this cold world
When your thoughts are possessed by the media or academia, your body, your job
But when you prioritize it, burn, suffer, and battle with yourself,
You’ll overcome,
With the treasure of true wealth and riches money can’t buy
Happiness is inside you

The journey’s not easy but the prize is worth it
You’ll get through the histories of hurtin you’ve done to yourself
To make peace with yourself
Then protect your happiness from everybody else who gets power and pleasure from robbin it
Gold’s gotta go through the fire to be purified and shine
If you’re ready for your own heat, don’t waste time
Happiness is inside you

My Poems 12/18/12

My poems are not about bein good
They're about being understood

You speak
I write poetry
It's how I express myself
And yeah, it's an art
For everyone else

It's shared to share wisdom
To resonate with
familiarity
To give us all more
clarity
In this process of life

The more we write
The more we can fight
And overcome the struggles for our children,
To have a better place to live in

12/18/12

Don't look at me for happiness
Look at me for love
Go to me for things to internalize
To learn about empathy
To not just let things be
To be supported by
To feel closeness with
To know realness with
To be like, "Oh, I can say it like this"

Peace of mind and clarity are my greatest treasures
And my deepest longing is to be understood
I have a lot of love to give
And am happy to take, though I'm used to small doses
Let's grow together,
support each other,
understand one another,
travel the world together,
share experiences together,
long for forever,
feel the bond of closeness,
support one another in realizing our full potentials
Real unity
You, me, us, trust

12/30/12

To change things, you got to first be able to name things.

1/6/13

Thinking something through precedes articulation.

1/7/13

Thoughts like razors to the health.

1/7/2013

And it's back to this again
Needin' a place to sleep
You don't know what you're gonna eat
And it pains you to buy
Anything that's not your bills
Or for your family
Struggle on
Stay focused
Pursue your goals
Have the courage to know you can
accomplish them
Stay in the moment
Handle it
Do what you gotta do
Preserve your clarity
and positivity
It will get better,
For the long run

1/10/13

Sometimes things seem worse than they are
because you want them to be a different way

Acceptance 1/13/13

That difference people
Want different things
That friendship means different things to different friends
That friendship looks like different things
For some, their preference is a form that is more detached than you'd like
Cuz the truth is, you want your lives to be connected
But some just want to tap in and tap out
It's nothing to take personal
Cuz the book of their life and definition of friendship might differ from yours
If they're not looking for the same thing with you that you are with them,
Accept and be grateful for what you can share
If you don't overcome frustration, consider termination
Otherwise, take what you can get if that's what you decide you want and have time for
People do change
And if you're otherwise looking for someone who lives out the same definition of friendship, keep looking
Be patient
And believe
You'll find each other
When the time is right
You have some now
Love them
And enjoy
All the colors of
Friendship

Images of her body 1/14/13

Images of her body have reminded me of what I'm capable of and inspired me to hit the gym again
What a beauty is the female body, so captivating, magnetic to the eyes, powerful to stir emotions

Modeling boosts the self esteem
It builds your confidence to know you are beautiful
It gives you something to fall back on to cement your perception of your beauty
That's nice on top of a partner who constantly affirms your beauty

Images of her reminded me of my beauty
It's something to maintain

Images of her remind me of my sexuality
Something to activate and exercise
When my man is home.

1/18/13

A person's trash might be another person's treasure
A person's tragedy might be another person's profit

Caffeine, I love you

As the caffeine and vegan baked goods settle in my blood
BOOM
I’M OFF
Do this, do that
I wanted to do that
I DO IT
And now I have the initiative to write
Makes me question am I addicted to this effect?

Nonspecifically life is good
And through a relentless pursuit of it
I AM HAPPY
I AM WHOLE
I AM PURPOSED

And I didn’t buy it off the internet
But it helped looking it up on the internet

And now I’ve been set off flying free for a while
And I’m out on a mission to liberate
So we can all fly.

Power.
Challenge.
Uncomfortable.
Struggle. [the word I thought for my original tattoo]
Adaptation.
Strength.
Resilience.
Confidence.
Letting things go.
Holding on.
Patience.
Love.
Justice.

EMPATHY.
REALNESS.
OVERCOME.
LOVE AND KNOWLEDGE OF SELF.
PERSPECTIVE.
UNDERSTANDING.
OPENNESS.
CRITICAL THINKING.

some of the most important words to me.