like a desert, in the middle of July..
I wonder why..
Your arms stretch out, touching every grain of sand hidden...
keeping warm, even the most cold forbidden...

given a chance to,
be nurtured by the life the desert springs in summer...
an oasis, endless in its love, precious in its wonder..

warmth never felt this warm before,
even as a child under blankets when i feared..
and unlike the blankets, you would never disappear..

heaven is, the feeling of gentle protectiveness,
calmness and power..
ability to devour an hour..
simply spending time describing that one particular flower...

..that bloomed...

Because were not the huggy type, never one to show affection..
momma never kissed us but she gave us her protection..

never said i love you, but we never went hungry..
I got a job at 14 and she never asked for funding...

Quit a career, hopped the border left her favorite shoes behind..
all just so her seeds planted had a chance to see divine..
and even when theres happy times she never says its fine..
still she prays to God, in times of troubles every time...

what does heaven feel like? ......

Heaven is,
that moment once a year when we embrace...
its almost mothers day, i can see it in your face..

Warmth unmatched,
Love endless and pure...
She'll never know, but all the good i do is for her,
and of that im sure, of that im sure..

Momma, I believe in heaven,
heavens my cure.




-afj

"All lives matter!"

...Yelled the Jew before he entered the burner..
Said the slaves, marching with Turner..
murmured, the young Aztec girl ***** by a pervert..
sobbed, the young Taliban, in the shop where they lured her.

All lives matter,

...Wrote, a Japanese man while he attended a camp..
preached a Muslim teacher when they made fun of her stamp..
sang a Haitian boy, starving..it was more of a chant..
funny how you can eat turkey, Native Americans CANT.

All Lives Matter..

said the Muslim grandfather, just catching a plane..
said the young white women, enlisted in the army for change..

I say all lives matter, with pride and have my fist out...
but with no papers..according to Trump ill be kicked out..

my life matters, all lives matter..
but isn't it sad...?
its not the white thing to say...but some lives never have.


-afj

Who's eyes are these,
That sketch me beautiful and slender,
That dip the world a tangerine tint,
That douse me in a moment to remember.

[A prose poem]

I see a palm reaching out for me, from the pitch black.
     I try to sleep and close my eyes, but I still see this palm, trying to cover my face or scratch the skin it hates– I close my eyes and I still see it.
I know where this palm came from.
     I know it from the time the backdrop was not dark, but a horrid party at a lonesome house where I had too many shots. I know this palm will try to take whatever it wants, and it’ll crook its fingers and slide wherever it pleases, without caring to come back to my face when the tears roll down; it does not care to treat them, it does not care to wipe them. It does not care.
     Its been more than a year now, and still I go to sleep and think of hands. Of the word “no”, and how useless it is, just like trying to get some good sleep now. I close my eyes and try to forgive every one of those fingers.

Loving you is like forgetting
That roses grow with thorns.
For all you gave me is
the sweet scent of a love
that never grows cold.

His eyes.A piece of art she could admire forever.
Her mouth.A combination of desire and passion that never left his mind.
He loved and adored the pain on her face;
And she longed for a love she would never have.
She listened and she cried as he talked of others.But she never complained.
He was broken;Something she could not repair.Her biggest fault.
She whined alone and tightened her heart.And he never trusted no one.

One night,
while on some tremendously great acid.
I watched the snow fall,
ever so softly,
illuminated by street lights.
It was the most beautiful thing,
I'd ever seen.
And truly,
it had very little to do with the drugs.
It was beautiful because...
Because I was there,
and because it was real.

It's so easy to be kind to people,
the hard part is actually meaning it.

Is it better to be revered,
or just left alone?

I don't know.