#111 - Modern Segregation

Today’s words: Amend, Elite, Use, Define

Word count: 194

Completion time: 27 minutes

Summary: Representation from a young age matters.

--

She knows how to talk

But not how to use her voice

She knows how to walk

But not how to prevent others

From walking over her

She knows how to add, subtract, divide

But the collision caused by the division

Of black versus white is something

No child can fight...alone

Children will copy what they see

Like to be whatever stars are on TV

But it’s the elite who choose who to use

On the big screen in Vue.

...Take 2

I’ll amend what I said

and begin with this instead:

When that child came home one night

She said, “Mummy, I want to be white.”

“Child, why?”

“White people are beautiful.”

Who put this in her head?

Who sat down with her on their lap

And told her she wasn’t all that?

No-one needed to.

It doesn’t need to be explicit

For someone to exhibit self-loathing

If beauty is all around and it’s wearing white

The other colours don’t shine as bright

The dictionary can define ‘beauty’ and it won’t have a race

But nearly every beautiful face we see looks the same to me

And barely any will look like me

Last chance to get in a story

I'll be doing my piece later on today, so if anyone wants to be in it, check the post below for more info and get back to me in a few hours!

x

Want to be in my next piece?

First of all - I am so sorry it’s been so long! I got caught up with uni work and a new relationship!

Second of all - here’s the deal. If you give me 4 random words for my next piece, I’ll note whoever replies, pick them at random in a few days, use their words, and ask if they’d like to be a character or use a life experience of theirs to shape my story.

It can’t be an anonymous reply unless there’s a way to get in contact with you again. If not, I can’t include you.

So, go ahead!

#108 - You and I

Today’s words: Pigeon, China, Satan, Scallop

Word count: 250

Completion time: 23 minutes

--

Why do we torment and criticise other animals

For being inferior? Looking at the world through different eyes,

See, they aren’t like you and I, they don’t feel like we feel

Their pain isn’t recognised, who cares if they die?

People screw their faces up, at little pups in China

Who get served alongside a variety of food.

Not to be rude, but I’m over the line of thought

That is shocked and appalled by yet another animal...

Yet another innocent life we carve up with knives

And say it’s alright, it’s justified, because

They don’t feel like you and I.



A pigeon was sat on a bench the other day

And someone kicked it away like it could contaminate,

Like it would be great if they could be cast away

Like Satan from the heavens. Why?

They didn’t disobey but they have no say because why?

They can’t speak like you and I?

Judge like you and I?



We don’t need to buy something to think that we own it

No cash needs to change hands to know we can have it

The scallops on the beach, the ocean deep

Everything we see, we claim just by looking.

We take parts of the world and reduce them to nothing

Just by looking

I look to you and see myself reflected right back

We’re on the attack, you and I

We don’t give a fuck, you and I

It’s in our nature to rely

On things that can’t fight back.

#107 - Monkey

Today’s words: Sausages, Monkey, Ambivalent, Hearty

Word count: 117

Completion time: 17 minutes

--

You’ll find me on the monkey bars

I’ll have a banana between my teeth

And my dress will have a roll of fabric

Cellotaped to the skirt

Because I am a monkey



I can be as hearty as I want

I can say I want ten sausages

For breakfast

And no-one will find that weird

Because kids are silly



Kids are allowed to be ambivalent

Kids are allowed to have no direction

Allowed to run around in circles

And collapse wherever they like

Because they have no responsibilities



So that’s why you’ll find me in the park

On the climbing frame

Holding my head high with pride

As I cross the monkey bars

For the ninth time

#106 - Goodbye, Camp, Gay Male

Today’s words: Exorcism, piercing, rainbow, Chanel

Word count: 108

Completion time: 19 minutes

Summary: Stupid stereotypes

--

Hello, camp, gay man trope

Hello to your feminine style

Tight jeans, tight top

Fashion designer look

Chanel, Armani, Gucci

Hello, epitome of rainbows

Everything fabulous

Flamboyant

Hello, flick of the wrist

Hello, high pitched laugh

Hello, right ear right queer piercing



I want to perform an exorcism on you

I want everyone to see

That underneath that feminine fashion

It’s possible to be gay

Without being camp.



I want to force the two apart

Stop them from being synonymous

Because when you say someone’s ‘really gay’

You mean camp

And when you say someone’s camp

You think they’re gay



Stop.

This is not accurate gay representation

...Stop.

#105 - Full Moon

Today’s words: Hermit, Obsequious, Moscow, Squelch

Word count: 126

Completion time: 9 minutes

--

We all want approval.

It’s human nature to

Want to be accepted;

From the obsequious teacher’s pet

To the condemned hermit

Who longs to possess the social skills

Required to make and sustain friendships.

There is always a social hierarchy

No matter how much you ignore it.

If you’re ‘normal’, you’ll probably be okay

If you’re ‘unusual’, you get pushed away

Given less opportunities

To make an impression.



Sometimes it feels like

Being yourself isn’t enough;

Whether you’re a lesbian in Moscow

Or a teenaged girl being looked down on.

Squelch.

They walk all over you.

Tell you what you should be

Even though you can’t be

You

...You’re worth so much more than

Public opinion.

You’re a full moon

In a stream of falling stars.

#96 - Little Piggy

Today’s words: Market, Join, Minimize, Specialize

Word count: 106

Completion time: 5 minutes



--



As kids, the little pigs are always going to market

But we don’t know why

As adults, the pigs are still going to market

This time we know why



We just don’t care



If we could join these pigs on their journey

Be there to bear witness to their shortened lives

Would we still sing nursery rhymes about these dark times?



The little piggy isn’t going to market to buy food

He’s going to market because he is food



We need more people to specialize and end, not minimize, these animals’ pain

So that never again will we be fed at the expense of the dead

#93 - All Within My Hands

Today’s words: Change, Little, Direct, Desire

Word count: 175

Completion time: 25 mins

Summary: I always blame other people for things that don’t progress in my life, but it’s always my fault

--

I didn’t desire the world, I’d be happy with my own scene to admire through a frame of fingers. But a scene that I wouldn’t forget about, a scene that wouldn’t change into something undistinguishable if I left it for a few months.

Little girls can’t cope with big dreams; they go way over our heads, higher than red balloons caught in a draft, strings waving their farewells. So I’ll settle for this, except it isn’t really settling, it’s something I can hold onto, something that won’t blow away.

And I want to hold onto you, believe me I do, but no-one can predict the weather. You can’t direct nature.

Maybe it’s me. No, I’m sure it’s me.

The weather could be fine all the time, yet I’d still find a way to drop everything and leave. I’d pretend that I was fine with my unmoving scene, ignore the balloons I let go of, and blame it on the weather, man.

I want to hold on, but my fingers are too used to letting go.

#92 - Straighten it Out

Today's words: Edge, Iron, Direful, Trite

Word count: 170

Completion time: 20 minutes

Summary: Straightened hair sometimes has a deeper meaning

--

The direful, untamed puffs of hair taunted me as I looked in the mirror

It was a trite affair – everyone did it but

I didn’t discover another motive ‘til my brother asked:

“Why are you trying to make yourself look white?”

I didn’t realise that by modifying my hair

I was doing the next best thing

To modifying my skin



I didn’t like my puffs because they were Afro, native, different

I sectioned my identity, tried to cut myself off

The iron was oppression and I held it tight

Trying to erase myself with a white rubber



Even black Barbie had straight flowing locks

I’d brush them til the strands gathered static

Til there were no more kinks

If I did the same to mine, my hair would rebel

The more I brushed, the bigger the afro

The more I edge from my race

The more it stares me in the face



Running fast or staying still

Makes no difference

It will always be here

Standing out against the light

#81 - "I'm Depressed"

Today’s words: Farm, Crisps, Garden, Noun

Word count: 373

Completion time: 1 hour 1 minute

Summary: a lot of people trivialize mental illness, especially ‘popular’ ones like depression and social anxiety, so this goes out to people who are sick of people claiming to be sick when they’re clearly just having normal reactions to everyday situations

--

“I have depression,” you say, finishing your crisps as you look me in the eye

It’s no surprise, right? You’ve not smiled once since sunrise.

“Why do you think that?”

“I’m really sad.”

Okay, that’s a fact...

I won’t deny that you’re sad, that much is true

But that’s because Drew broke up with you...

Your last date was at a farm, a small place outside of town

And when the day was done, the relationship was too

You cried

Of course you did

You cried like you’d forgotten how to laugh and

Fell onto the path, asking him ‘why’

He said your name like a common noun and stated

“We’re just too different, we never should have dated.”

And just like that, you guys were separated

“I might go to the doctor; I think I’m a hazard to myself.”

It’s nice that you’re looking out for your health

But being sad after a traumatic experience

Is nothing that serious

“Give it a few days, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I have it: I’ve read about it.”

You know when people sneeze and think they have the flu?

That’s what this is. It’s a normal reaction, I’m telling you!

I’d be concerned if you weren’t feeling blue!

“Look, I know you’re a mess, and I get that, I do

“But claiming it’s a mental illness? That’s really not cool.”

“I didn’t eat for half a day yesterday, what does that tell you?”

“That you lost your appetite (you fool)!”

Throw me the tastiest line, I still won’t bite

It’s been two nights since he dumped you

Don’t trivialize a mental issue whenever it suits you

Like the latest fashion trend that you’ll spend

Hundreds on just to look cool in front of friends

I have this and I have that

You say it like you want to be depressed

Like you want to spend days in bed, missing work

Realising that life has lots its perks

Like you want to feel a relentless darkness

That lasts for days and days

Like a permanent eclipse

Why would you want that?

Who would ever wish for that?

Why can’t you see that your ‘depression’

Is a just normal kind of ‘sad’?

#78 - My Imagination

Today’s words: Simile, Prostitute, Oregano, Alabama

Word count: 123

Completion time: 31 minutes

Summary: If my imagination were corporeal

--

If my imagination could talk,

It would have an Alabama accent

For no reason other than

I like how ‘Alabama’ sounds

If my imagination could dress,

It would wear a blood red playsuit

With a black bow at the waist (because)

While lovely, it can also be deadly

And if you could taste it,

Your tongue would be spiked

With the flavour of oregano,

Because it’s my favourite herb

If it had a job, it’d be a prostitute.

It ventures into dark territory,

Stays up late at night,

And sometimes, people take advantage

Its favourite simile would be

‘As sweet as sugar’,

Because if it could drink,

It would have six sugars in its tea

If my imagination were human,

Could you imagine?

#75 - Light

Today's words: Commence, Preponderance, Point, Lamplight

Word count: 161

Completion time:  20 minutes

Summary: This is just how I felt about the person I’m seeing, and I really couldn’t think of anything else right now. I don’t really feel like this anymore, the narrator isn't me.

--

You’re not supposed to look directly at the sunlight

So I’ll substitute it with lamplight and, knowing me

It’ll fuck with my sight regardless

My plight is slight, but it will fuck with my sight

Regardless

So I’ll commence, I’ll

Leave the lamp on all day and

All night, and it will be okay

Because it’s better to be like this

Than to be in the dark

Even though it’s just a lamp like all the others

It seems to have a preponderance amount of light

Which constantly leaves me in shadow

I don’t have electricity flowing through me

So how can I compete with that?

That spark,

That charge,

That perpetual glimmer that made trolls glimmer

I didn’t have it.

But the lamp did.

And it always would.

Because it was built that way;

I wasn’t

So point your light in another direction

At something that can reciprocate

Because I’m just a dull dead weight

No-one could possibly equate

Us

#65 - "Hey, Baby!"

Today’s words: Kick, Befitting, Consult, Linen

Word count: 298 words

Completion time: 1 hour

Summary: Don’t try to dress street harassment up as anything more than blatant verbal assault

Picture not mine

“You’re so lucky.”

They praise, with stars in their eyes.

The phrase echoed through her mind like a sharp wind.

Her words had been ripped from her throat so

That she’d have nothing to hold onto

When they knocked her down.

“It’s a compliment.”

They say, like she needed to consult anyone

About how befitting the outfit was to her figure,

How nicely it hugged her ass, how well it held her tits.

Get this: until you’re given the seal of approval,

You look shit

“They don’t mean any harm.”

They advise, nodding their heads.

So if I accidentally shot you in the face,

You’d let me off because it wasn’t my intention?

Let’s not mention the fact that a lot of guys do it

To assert their power,

To get a kick;

Not to be nice.

It’s not and never is your right to decide

What is and isn’t hurtful to someone else.

It doesn’t matter what she was wearing

Or if she was alone

Or if it was late at night

When she’s gripping the bed linen tight,

Trying to bleach her mind of the guy who followed her

Halfway home, asking if she had a boyfriend

Where she was going

What her name was

How gorgeous she looked

Why she didn’t want to talk

Why she didn’t want to look at him

Don’t tell her that she should make light of it

Or that it could have been worse

When she holds her purse to her chest

And tells him to go away

That she isn’t interested

He won’t because he wants to play

He sees it as a challenge

How far can he go to get a yes?

How far will they have to go

Before people realise that

It isn’t a fucking show