On the other side of the fence it grows

out of the reach of my hand & nose

free to be as lovely as it intends

free to be with its flower friends

Not to be killed inside this cage

such enchantments would be a waste

Never seen such a blue, defying hate

just by existing

fed by the sun it feeds my being

sometimes being happy feels like treason

your petals offer one more reason

to not break down or fold so easy

life would be such a cake

the day I awake

on the same side as my friends

we’ll both rise up in defiance

on that day

I have the blues like a dead man’s lips

This vile institution

Serving your cereal with a cup of warm piss

they’ll teach me a lesson

If only my cold shoulder didn’t come with a chip

for all my treason

maybe my life was a failure, but it felt like a gift

the dementor is freezing

I’m a thorn bush that needs to be clipped

With a shovel and a dream

I begin heading your way

The ground is cold and hard

and inclined to budge

But we fight it, we fight hard

and we fight the calendar

We’re expected to break

to throw in every towel

Our muscles are aching

Sore but not breaking

Meet in the middle

We’ll help each other to escape

To flee society and heartbreak

Together we’ll tunnel out of this pain

and nothing will stop our getaway

They tried to bury us

They forgot we were earthworms

Eating out their rotten brains

And shitting out their undigestible’s

that we were fucking shovels

just ‘cause someone throws dirt on you

doesn’t mean you can’t throw

That shit right off

that we were landmines

waiting for one, wrong, cocky misstep

To bring them to their knees

and send their knees into the trees

that we were fucking zombies

we’d keep rising up

‘cause we didn’t crave brains

we craved freedom

that we didn’t mind the underground

away from their laws and harsh glares

that we were Prairie dogs

digging tunnels and spending all day

just barking and talking shit

when we see the Hawks come in

we’ll scamper for a minute

that we’re already dirt

full of the goddess energy

giving life to vibrant communities

we’ll gladly share the world

with pretty flowers and tickley bugs

that we do what we want

like our mothers and fathers before us

we don’t wave the flag

and say surrender

because the enemy tells us

“the fight is over”

We are not victims of our circumstances

We are the victors over them

Circumstances

gave us thin ice

and heavy skates

took our families and morphed them

into something horrific

Gave us cold nights

And thin blankets

no heat,

but rocket launchers

We have hearts that fed beatings

and eyes that can’t look away

and lots of time to think about it

We found the will to fight

so it gave us an enemy that can’t die

gave us eyes to read

letters of heartbreaking sorrow

Circumstances gave us rotting logs to make homes

then laughed a the tornadoes

taught us to count

so we’d know just how much we didn’t have

Circumstances took our food to make us weak

but we stayed strong

tried to ice out our hearts

but we stayed warm

Circumstances tried to plant seeds of fear

but we grew brave

and found the courage to love those

whom others couldn’t