In silence
proclaim
your identity
chase the fear
with the beauty
that is your soul
shine
brighter than
any star in the darkness
let your light
not only shine
but grow
know
in the tiniest most secret part
of you heart
that your dream
your passion
your desire
in the stating of your proclamation
becomes your reality
and what once is in your reality
can never cease to be
Author: April Wells
Published 9/11/16
Expected to smile
Expected for a while
Expected on time
Expected not to whine
Expected to look and say and listen and be
Expected to meet the criteria.
I expect
To be let down
Again? Yeah again
To be criticized for being me
To hear the whispers
To see the looks
To wish in one hand and shit in the other
To answer the call
Only to fall
For the same old bullshit yet again
And I do
I expected
For a while
For the veiled lame promises
To maybe come true
But only halfway
And I wasn’t surprised
When nothing ever did
I expect
Cat hair on my black pants
To jump and run
At the slightest notice
To remember my coffee
Only a few hours later
I expect to fail
I expect to learn
I expect the unexpected
And to be able to hide all traces
Of disappointment
Hiding
In plain sight
Where no one would ever
Dare to look
Right there
Do you see
There to the left
No the right
By the brook
By the tree
Hiding there
Watching
Always watching
Always seeing
Seeing but never seen.
Author April Wells
Published 9/6/16
Standing in the shadows
seen
but unseen
never quite noticed
you are there
taken for granted
taken for worthless
taken for all you have
you are there
in the shadows
standing
seen
yet unseen
hear the music
watch the dance
do the needful
never take a stand
and yet
you are there
in the shadows
standing
seen
and unseen
giving all
shouldering everything
in silence
at the edges
of periphery
seen and unseen
invisible
and yet
somehow
invincible
as well
author April Wells
published 9/3/16
Slide through the darkness
Mary Sunshine
The cloak of darkness
Always your cape
Shake off the dust
The leaves of reality
The dust of a thousand
Dreamless schemes
In silence suffer
Irrelevance
Irreverence
Draw on the crooked smile and step into the starlight
Doing the needful
In the ways of her people
Taken for granted
Taken for invinsible
Invisibly standing
For nothing
The voices
Oh the voices
In her head
In her heart
In her hands
The voices in the darkness
Hear how they scream
The dreams of a fool
Draw on the smile
War paint hides the circles
the pain
The right convincing mirthless grin
Take your stage
Mary Sunshine
In the brilliance of the starlight
Dance the dance
Of the marionette
All the world
Your stage
Evolution
gone awry
Irony in the progress
we as women
fail to make
teaching the young
fostering the of age
still objectified
and vilified
and make objects
so much progress
left to be made
my happiness does not rely
on the size of my anatomy
my worth
intelligence
value to society
does not rest
as a wine glass
on the table of my visage
you wonder at why
society’s values remain
unchanged
through the ages
the reason is obviously
the values are only
what you value most
ajw
Irrelevance is king
and privilege
the crown prince
and the silence that surrounds
speaks volumes
heap it on
as you’ve noticed
I’m good
at shouldering
whatever straws
get heaped there
slings and arrows
I see them
hear them
feel them
and in the tininess of my reality
refuse to duck
Throw the venom
dis is all the respect there is
and this is all
of the respect
I will ever expect
shield my gaze
immaterial
hide the pain
I will not let you see
how deep the wounds
I get it
I understand
what more can I expect
used and abused
heap on dis respect
Assume it is my due
karma’s a bitch
and time always passes
author: April Wells
published 9/1/16
