who said cheaters never win

cheaters never win
but what does that matter if winning 
isn't the point of the game?

(there is no tally at the end)

cheaters never win
unless winning means hurting the most people

unless winning means causing the most damage

before you're playing an entirely new game

(they've toppled empires this way)

cheaters never win
but they can still reap the rewards
and for some, that is more than enough

you can't beat cheaters by playing by the rules

but if you become like them, what have you won?

cheaters never win

but everyone else can still lose

all that ever comes to mind

Note: This is the 250th poem I have published.

I have four little cousins, small children with

big questions, they've asked me

"why are people always so mean?" 

and all that ever comes to mind

are things I don't want them to know

I want to tell them to stay like they are

just that like, don't get older, 

keep asking questions and never give up

at 8, they have yet to

watch a political debate or

read about people arguing 

over their right to live free

in a nation that champions freedom

they haven't

gotten sick of screaming

into the thankless void of emptiness at 

the end of each and every day

I want to tell them that it gets better

that the world is less scary from up here

but 10 years ahead of them and I still don't know 

the right answer or the right prayer

meanness becomes cruelty

there are never any guarantees

anyone can cut the rope

and let loose the guillotine

I want to tell them to have hope

that life is more good than bad

I want them to believe that

cheaters never win and winners never cheat

that superheroes look just like you and me

but who am I to lie to them?

it's not their fault that when they ask me

"why are people always so mean?"

all that ever comes to mind 

are things I don't want them to know

when we say Black Lives Matter

when we say Black Lives Matter

we are saying three words

that carry the weight of hundreds of years 

of pain and oppression

of strength and perseverance

between them

when we say Black Lives Matter

we are recognizing a dark history

too often covered up

and forcing it into the light

a history we can choose to stop repeating

but only if we fight for a better future

when we say Black Lives Matter

we are saying that black people

deserve respect, safety, and love

that they are needed, beautiful, and valued

that they are worth protecting

and admitting that we haven't always protected them

Quakers find peace and power in silence

Quakers find peace and power in silence

do not mistake this silence for 

complacency over the broken status quo and state of affairs

we will march beside you

and hold our signs high

we may be pacifists

(but fighting can look like many different things)

Quakers find peace and power in silence

we feel Light in that silence

Light we know is inside each every beautiful soul on Earth

Light we are always open to share

snippets of her mind [updated]

she thought she could write
poems using snippets of
her mind, but when it all
unraveled

she couldn’t
make sense of it

what was this new
layer, she asked
why does this memory
feel tainted,
spray painted
with regret, thin enough
to see through to what
she used to believe
was true-

she was stunned,
started backtracking, but got
turned around, lost in a forest
of memories and
miscommunication

she was too young then,
but now she has the
instincts, as women do,
to know it wasn't right

she thought she could write
poems using snippets of
her mind, but when it all
unraveled

it was too dark
for her to see anything

What They Tell Us

They tell us that we become women
when we learn the pain of menstruation,
never teaching about the beauty of our bodies.

They comment on our eyes and our thighs,
we soon understand that it's not a compliment;
making sure we know that our physical characteristics
are always being judged, always the first factor.

They say it's inevitable, that we will find a boyfriend,
but plan to punish us when we do.
If we refuse or dare insult the opposite sex,
we get made fun of and at times
flames of something far scarier hide behind the laughter.

They tell us to give men a chance
but also warn against contact,
using our fear as bait
to guide the preachings against sin
deep into our subconscious
so that we can't close our eyes
without being horrified at who we find
staring back.

They remind us every day that
our bodies will never be good enough
then, are surprised to discover that we hate ourselves.

They tell us what "real women" look like
but somehow do not understand
why we cry when we don't fit the bill.

We are not vain,
we are tearing out stitches from years of self-depreciation
that once bound us up, tight, and held us back,
only now learning about our own bodies.

We are taking a stand
with raised voices and raised signs
with self-love and paintbrushes
hoping to keep younger generations
from knowing our pain.

They try to tell us who we are to be,
To that, we say, "No more."

Women are enough. [updated]

The first woman listened to my tears.
The next one showed me how to fold my entire body into a story.
Beside her stood the woman who taught me to be fierce.
Number four showed me just how much I didn't know yet.
Then came the one who never stopped moving; I watched her dance.
The sixth woman made me work hard so that I knew that I could.
Yet another held magic between bristles of her paintbrush.
Number eight told me to scream.
And, I remember the one who made sure that I was heard.
The tenth, oh, they all did this: she told me that I was enough.

We are enough.