legacy

i come from a legacy of broken minds

memories like fault lines

slipping between and underneath

swallowed along my throat and never quite reaching my brain

and it will come when im older

when my hair turns bleach white

if i dont bleach myself first

because i come from a legacy of broken minds

my father who was beaten like a dog

and takes up the mantle of protecting a long dead owner

who still holds his leash vocal cord tight

my mother who worked 50 hours a week in dragon breath summer

and learned from walking age that weakness a luxury reserved

for only those who could afford it

an aunt who can barely breathe in fear

of doing something wrong, of relinquishing such hard earned war scarred control

and then there’s me

working two jobs trying to make ends meet

forcing myself through classes i hate

because i think im stuck, i see imaginary glue

because money means stability and stability is a pipe dream

a little girl with a rug under her feet

stands quivering in my heart, hoping no one will discover her

she is painted with tears, smears of dirt

from where she fell when she was clipped

forcibly uprooted from the concrete crack where she had tried to bloom

my mind is a broken place

full of gutted clocks and mismatched pieces

of shattered formative years redacted i suppose my clearance was revoked

my mind is a broken place

it is broken because of many people and many things

please wear shoes when you come in

i wouldnt want you to get hurt