Status Updates From Shout

“the spines of books connect
page to page
writer to reader
teacher to student
page to page
past to future
pain to power
page to page
rage to peace”

“This is not
a resting bitch face.

This is a touch-me-and die face.”

“don’t call it a period:
call it an
exclamation point.”

“the false innocence
you render for them
by censoring truth
protects only you.”

“the collective noun I’m seeking is ‘curiosity’
we have a curiosity of boys
waiting on the truth
and when their questions
go unanswered
the suffering begins for

an anguish of victims.”

“Pain won’t be contained
by bars or marks
your scars deserve attention, too.”

“Walter looked at me and arched an eyebrow
he and I wrote for the kids
who didn’t have those people
children with scars
inside and out, kids whose childhoods
disappeared in the rear view mirror
a long time ago.”

“too many grown-ups tell kids to follow
their dreams
like that’s going to get them somewhere
Auntie Laurie says follow your nightmares instead
cuz when you figure out what’s eating you alive
you can slay it.”

Some people grow up knowing what they want
to do: they color inside the lines
study at the right school,
check off the boxes, and
in the end
they are handed the grown-up life
they’ve dreamed of.

That’d mostly bullshit, for the record.”

“Rich people scorn the way the poor
buy lottery tickets
but what would you pay for an hour
of untainted hope, of happiness unfettered?

“scars may look stronger than unwounded skin,
but they’re not
once broken, we’re easily hurt again, or worse…”

“Poor kids get snatched by the real world
at seven, eight, nine years old, dragged onto the front porch of adulthood, forced
to figure it out on their own
rarely making old bones…

“Looking back, I think his life was a mess.
Looking back, he still scares me.
Looking back, I wonder how many girls he hurt
And if someone hurt him first
Or if he was simply a felony-committing shithead.”

“Lovebrarians”

“Never trust anyone with plastic flowers on their head.”