The world made us con artist
Tag: Poem
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Survival makes us liars
You know the world won’t believeYou can either hide the truthOr exaggerate realityThere is no win in truthBeing authentic is a trickVulnerability is a riskWe lose either wayAll we can do is surviveHope the world doesn’t tear us down.
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cause and effect
Forgiveness isn’t for the other person
It’s about what we carry around
Do we live in anger and frustration
Do we let resentment run our life
Do we let pain stain our everyday
Or do we find a way to let it go
A boundary isn’t a rule you set
It’s an action taken in responce
When a request is actively ignored
A rule is asking for for respect
But when someone refuses to comply
A boundary is consequences
Anger is a fierce fleeting feeling
We can give the flame a purpose
Or choose to let the fire die
When we’re intentional with that heat
We’re less likely to get burnt.
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You told on yourself
The stories you tell of your life
Don’t leave you in a good light
You think I should agree with you
That the villain was the other party
Maybe they aren’t appealing cohorts
But the part you played was worse
Investing into a narrative of revenge
As if bad behavior deserves more
Stories of malice are a red flag
A warning I should protect myself
You had the option to walk away
Not to return their tit for your tat
At least now I know the future to come
One day I’ll be a villain in your story
Unless I’ve earned that title already.
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The chronic illness
Maybe I’m asking too much
I’m not just asking for compassionBut trust in my wordsTaking my truth at face value
The whole is greater than the partsYou may have had my symptoms beforeBut living with them everydayIs a different experienceWhen you break a boneEventually the cast comes off
When you get a coldEventually you get better
I live in a world where better is relativeThere is no perfect health to haveWhen living in a broken body.
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you don’t wish murder
You don’t think you want to kill me
You believe in survival of the fittestYou fight for individual freedomApathetic to laws that’d sterilize meYou wish me to silence
As I remind you of mortality
You wish me to be invisible
You can’t imagine what you can’t see
You wish me to be magically healed
But you deny to wishing me dead
You believe yourself sympathetic
Long as I don’t turn a mirror on reality.
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ugly is power
Ugly is liberatings
If we must be perceived
Let it be without constraints
As beauty is a trap
If we don’t conform
We can speak our minds
Live free in our truth
It’s not that beauty doesn’t thinkBeauty defers to the systemDeference supports the power
The physically unattractiveDon’t have to defer
Ugly can be power.
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transitory health
Health is fluid, it isn’t permanent
But most get more good healthWhile I get more bad healthMy good days are the exceptionWhile their good days are the ruleSo I know why you ask silly questionsLike when I will get betterOr why can’t a doctor fix meBecause you don’t get this is goodYou can’t comprehend my badSo I try not to be madAt your limited understandingI wouldn’t wish my reality on anyone.
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men don't want to be women
Any aceptance of trans women
Suggests that womanhood is enviableIt is not manly to be like a womanEven the suggestion is an insultMen utilize the offerings of womenWhile scoffing at feminine worthThey don’t want to be like womenAnd violently oppose the suggestionUnder their very narrow definitionFemininity contradicts masculinityThey reject choosing womanhoodAs women are owned, not emulated.
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not murdered today
Some consider me expendableNo one is trying to kill me todayEven if they were, it’d be passiveBecause my genetics are a blightMy mental health is faultyI’ve aged out of breeding stockSkills I have aren’t enoughFor my perceived burdenBut if there was an emergencyI’m the heard that will be thinnedMy story isn’t compelling enoughTo be on the priority list.
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health is a beauty standard
The expectation of healthIt more than just surfaceWe are supposed be perfectTo aim to be OlympicEugenics is selection of the fittestTrying to erradicate bad genes
Forgetting that we are all human
Lack of health is a social sin
Akin to failed beauty
The flawed are shamed
Blamed for their imperfection
When we didn’t ask to be born
We survive what birth gave us.
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multiple faces
You act like we’re two faced
Like it’s a manipulative choice
To mask or code switch
You act like we have a choice
But we’re trained from infancy
There’s a right and a wrong way
And our natural way is wrong
We don’t want to lie or hide
We’d choose authenticity
If there wasn’t external shame
Stop telling us to act normal
You taught us to have these faces
You’re just mad we said it
Mad we admit our fake isn’t real.
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not perpetual children
Needing help isn’t childishI can be competent and struggleMy survival isn’t perfectMy health may not match yoursMy gender may not be maleNeither deserve to be patronizedYou don’t get to infantilize meDon’t have to be a genius to thinkDon’t be obsessed with hierarkyLearn compassion and do better.
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not prey or predator
I abhore the chaseThe idea that we must courtFaking a beautiful plumeHiding our humanityIt’s easy to fall in lust
But love is vulnerableAnd falling hurts
It takes time and trustI’m not looking to huntAnd I refuse to be capturedIf alone is the only equal optionThen I will make the best of itI will be by myself.
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death isn’t a compliment
Don’t suggest my life is unlivable
At best a backhanded complimentAt worst you’re saying I unaliveYour eugenic viewpoint is sadBecause age comes for us allAnd good health isn’t guaranteedWhatever struggle I may live withMy existence is worthwhileI refuse to let you speak ill of meOnly I get to lament my disabilitySometimes it isn’t about betterBut about not choosing bitterBeing grateful for this life.
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feminist cliche
The joke is so cliche
Because it rings so trueMen want a woman like momA wife to take care of themWomen want to be lovedLike their dad loved their momI don’t want to be a man’s motherAnd I won’t be a subservient wifeNo husband’s adorationWill make up for that inequity.
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cthulu level god
A loving God sounds like a fantasyBeing angry at an absentee fatherIs just me drinking poison I madeA cthulu level diety makes more senseThat diety is cruel or is interestedThat deity isn’t listening to prayersThat diety is abusive and inconsistentAngry at my lack of compliancePunishing and playing with our livesI know how to deal with abuseBy disconnecting from the abuserI don’t choose to belive a fantasyI live in my harsh reality without faithBecause I don’t want God of scriptureI don’t want any omnipotent beingI want the gratefulness I get to existAnd the faith that humans are tryingTo do out best not to harm.
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the idea of hell is cruel
Eternity of suffering for a limited lifeAnd the hints at sin are variedIn books written eons agoTranslated in the perspective of man
And there isn’t just one versionSome of us are born chosenBut all of us are born with sinSome of us get taught the right rulesThe whole idea of hell us unfairBased a gamble that you know rightA gamble stacked by circumstanceIsn’t life hard enoughTo be confused by the possibilityOf forever hell to pay forMy limited time on this earthI’d rather aim to make good hereLive the least painful life I canTo harm the fewest people I canKnowing that eternity comes later.
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The kink lost its way
Feeding into a man’s desire to ownTo take care of me as his ownContradicts my feminismAnd wanting to be dominatedWhen patriarchy existsIs playing out a clicheWe can’t call it a kinkWhen it’s heteronormativeWhen these are acceptable rolesA wife in the kitchen and a slut in bedHe pays the bills and I take care of himRealizing my desire is a stereotypeMy secret desires aren’t so secretOnce written into tv it isn’t alternativeMy secrets are boring like everyones.
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hidden lady parts
A woman who owns her pleasureTo be authentic in her sexualityIs a woman who is slut shamedBecause a good girl is chasteA lady is demure and mysteriousOnly a slut is prideful in passionWe exist in cognitive dissonanceAn ability to feel pleasureBut pressured to deny itIn our youth sex is a taboo flavorA background noise we ignoreDespite its persistent allureAs hormones pump through usWe associate orgasm with shameOur body is fir a mans enjoymentA vessel for seed and procreationNot a thing we get to enjoy.
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clueless man
The love of my life was clueless
Buried in his masculinityProudly called himself a feministBut couldn’t see his wife’s miseryBlamed me for his bad behaviorsBecause I wasn’t his perfect wifehe couldn’t save me
Because he didn’t know meI did my best to inform himBut he missed all the obvious cluesHe was wrapped in his own realityThe priveledge of men
Blinds them to reality of women.
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twisted capitolism
We idolize our villains
Giving praise to a billionaire
Even as they steal from us
We expect to be cheated
They give us less for our more
The system is sociopathic
We don’t reward kindness
We reward those who win
We are complicit in our wage theft
The all mighty dollar is king
And our lives spent in servitude.
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individual flaw
The hubris in thinking you know me
Because we are both humanOr that you might know better for meLike I don’t know myselfThinking you can logic your wayInto understanding my experienceAs if logic has anything to do with itYou really see yourself as godlikeThe failing of mankind is patternsMaking mosaics from chaosFaith in our flawed perceptionEven when our limitations are clearYou don’t know me betterThan I know myselfBut you’d like to thinkYou know the best of us both.
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institutional torture
Hospitals are hell
With all the best intentionsThey don’t respect sleepAnd rotating staffIs an introvert nightmareWith purposeful lack of autonomyWe hand them all the powerIn the promise of improved healthBecause they are expertsAnd we are merely patientsThey down play the profit they makeFrom this traumatic time in our lifeAnd don’t ask what we wantThey belive they’ve covered our needsEven as they traumatize us with their care.
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supposed noncompliance
Doctors don’t trust us
And they don’t listen either
They don’t like us to be smart
Or to be informed enough to say no
They see us as uncooperative children
Disparaging our understanding
They arent partners in our care
They reluctantly ask for consent
But label us an uncooperative
If we dare stand up for ourself
We advocate in a vacume
Against many levels of opression
The world doesn’t like it
When you question its heros.
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away from the flame
The definition of true love
Diverged when it comes to passion
I wanted to foster the long coals
You wanted to throw wood on the fire
I don’t want passion that burns bright
That can turn into fierce anger
Or be smothered by boredom
I want admiration and respect
A long term commitment
A tinder that has to be tended
My fire won’t burn down a
forrest.But it’ll keep us warm for many nights.
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why aren't you better
Medical coding won’t let themTreat random symptomsThey need a diagnosis to treatWhatever is quick and easySo, I have a collection of diagnosisMy medical chart is a muddy poolWithout any helpful treatmentsFull of dismissal and contradictionsSuggesting I’m faking or imaginingIf I visit them for a new symptomThey might give me a new diagnosisBut I don’t want another oneAnother reason for their rejectionAnother way to doubt what I sayThere is no cure for a medical mysteryI’ve learned to live with my symptoms.
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today's is awful
Some days I wish I could skip
When it’s hard to sit upAnd the pain is persistentTreatement may take off the edgeBut background pain lingersAll I can do is tough it outAnd wait for healing to happenHoping tommorow is less awfulI sleep as much as I canBut some parts are spent awakeAnd that is the part I want to forgetI know things will get betterAnd I want to live another dayJust wish I could skip today.
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the less painful path
Pretty is more important than life
That’s what they mean by lose weightThey know it won’t workThat your body fights backBut hunger is acceptableYou don’t need to enjoy lifeYour discomfort is worth fitting inHealth is more important than foodThats what they mean by eat rightThey blame us for not having timeOr money or access or willpowerTell us don’t pay attention to hungerYour body doesn’t know what it needsFollow their inconsistent rulesBelieve in the promise of a resultThey’re not interested in scienceThin is healthy but fat is inevitableMaybe I’m doomed to unhealthyMaybe I’ve embraced fat and happyI’m not trusting an uncertain promiseBy buying into proven discomfort.
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equality isn't equity
The problem with equalityIs that it ignores my disability
And that’s the problemSure, you may hire meBecause I have the skillsBut then you judge my actionsWith the exact same metricAs able bodied employeesYou expect me to fit inFor my behavior to conformRegardless of my mental stabilityGetting a job is a first stepEquality makes to hard to keep a jobEquity would give me the toolsSo we can all live with my difference.
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imagined illness
When illness is not your life
It’s a way to get out of expectationBut when illness is everydayIt’s an inescapable private truthMore likely something you try to hideUntil it can’t be hidden anymoreIt comes out when we can’t escape itThe veracity of our truth is doubtedBecause the majority use it as a lieBut it’s ill health we wish to lie aboutIf only our illness was imagined.
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why must I remind you I'm human
I am not a fragile flower
Or your identified patient
Until I’m dead, I’m surviving
I deserve independentance
And whatever autonomy I can have
Treating me different doesn’t help
It just makes me feel seperate
Treating me as incompetent
Just makes me like you less
It isn’t yours to manage my health
Illness doesnt respect expectations
Symptoms don’t conform to timelines
Your frustration just makes me worse
And all your aims to get me in line
Like your uninformed advice
And you unsolicited help
Are a barrier to your understanding
Give me the respect of personhood
Why must I remind you I’m human?
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so many voices
Academica wants to study
Non-Profits want awarenessLobbyist want powerAnd grassroots wants changeAll fighting for an idealSomehow seperated by minutiaSiloed in our conversationsFeeling richeous in our goalsOur voces together would be loudBut infighting keeps us apartIn the hierarky of important voicesCan we hear the oppressed first?
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their big lie
At an early age, life didn’t make sense
What I saw didn’t match what I felt
And I was taught to speak up
So I said what I thought was true
And they assured me I was wrong
That I wasn’t feeling what I felt
And I wasn’t seeing what I saw
Quickly, I learned to doubt myself
And the next time I was incongruent
I participated in my own gaslighting
Thought I didn’t know what I felt
And I didn’t know what I saw
But the contradictions kept coming
What they said and how I felt
But how I felt was consistent
And their orders often conflicted
So I chose to believe in myself
I let myself rebel againt what I’m told
The world still doesn’t make sense
But at least I trust in me.
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not the plan
How did this happen?
I planned to be an novelist
To write great sweeping stories
And call myself an author
But that’s not what I do
Instead, I compulsively summarize
Encapsulate my feeling in words
In this blasted dead art form
I didn’t seek poetry as a goal
But damned if I’m not a poet.
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my body is vindictive
Body positive is about self-love
Body neutrality is about acceptance
Fat liberation is about equal rights
But my body is also defiant
I inflict myself on the world
Skimpy clothes showing it all off
Bright colors and bold patterns
Encouraging passing stares
Challenging disdainful looks
Not here to make you comfortable
Fat and proud and defiant.
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can't think it away
Even when you don’t believe
When you question what you seeMy symptoms are still hereWhat I feel is very real to meYour lack of faith in what I sayDoesn’t change my everydaySuch hubris in your fantasyThat you’re an expert on meI reject your ignorant decreeYou’ve not stopped my experienceJust stopped me in what I speakI learn not to share with you.
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not able bodied
When I look back over my life
Even when I thought I was healthyI was still sick, mentaly or physicalyThe limits of my understandingMeant I translated my experienceInto what others call healthyBut I don’t know what that feels likeI’m not able bodied, never have been.
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you don't own me
“My taxes pay for you”What a delusion of grandurePaired with flagrant ignoranceMaybe a minorty to you’re majorityBut the amount you personally payThat goes into programs for meIsn’t even a drop in the bucketNot even a molecule of vaporAt best you’re homeopathyA hint of tears in the oceanDiluted by the greater populaceIf I ignored your flawed logicAnd your lack of compassionLet us just be equal and fairIf you want freedom of choice for youStop suggesting ownership of me.
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no prayers, please
The problem with you praying for me
Is that your praying for God to fix meBecause you think I’m wrongMy life is sad and I must be savedBut isn’t your God purposefulMaybe he put me here to test youTo see if you can have compassionFor someone that doesn’t fitInto your view of his world?
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uneven bias
Just an idea in your headRepresenting words unsaidLip twisted in judgementAt the perceived lesserWhile you’re punching downI’m scowling at your crownYou don’t have to know meTo let yourself think poorlyYour bias and mineClash all of the timeBecause I’m punching upRejecting my oppressor.
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employed minority
The problem is keeping the jobSure, we fought to get the jobWe fought to get through schoolPersistence took us this farBut this isn’t a battle for promotionOr getting paid a living wageWe are still fighting for survivalAs an easy target for rejectionWith excuses of team dynamicsBecause we just don’t fit inCulture forces us to the outsideIt’s easier to get rid of usThan to make a space for us.
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Doctors are people too
Doctors are my least favorite peopleBut I can be mad at someone
Without dehumanizing themThey’re not trying to be meanThey’re a product of their trainingThey’re expected to be superhumanAuthoritarian and competitiveThey are restricted by insuranceWho get the final say in treatementAnd I don’t make their job easyI’m a complicated patientMy symptoms are confoundingI already have multiple diagnosesThey dismiss me as a mental caseBecause my symptoms are chronicBecause the simple tests are negativeBecause they don’t have time for meSo, I admit Doctors are peoplePeople in power that treat me poorlyAnd the compassion I haveIs follow-up by earned distrust.
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part of my personality
You question why I talk about it
As if the answer isn’t clear
C’mon, just think for a second,
Imagine where I’m coming from
This lives within me everyday
Were talking about my quality of life
Restricting my daily activity of living
What kind of delusion would it be
If it wasn’t a part of my personality
Not metaphorically but literally
Keeping silent for your comfort
Doesn’t make my life easier
Since I can’t avoid it or deny it
I’m not going to hide it.
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anticipating judgement
Let me be clear
I’m not making anything up
I spend my time isolating
And lying about what I feel
And avoiding the topic of health
Smiling through my discomfort
Actively minimizing my needs
So you won’t ever know
What’s going on with me
Because when I open up
I get shamed by doctors
Teated poorly by bosses
Doubted by my friends
The world isn’t welcoming
People treat me differently
There isn’t a reward for honesty
When it comes to disability.
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accomidation for all
Remove reason from accomidation
Reject the idea of undue hardship
It leads to false argument
If you already treat your staff shitty
Any request for change is a battle
Doesn’t matter who makes a request
Employers reject workplace change
Even when it’s low cost or no cost
So, this isn’t just about disability
It’s about core labor rights
Most staff have individual needs
We should have tools to do our job
Get flexibility between work and life
Accomidation is considered radical
Because a job is seen as a priveledge
What if staff were seen as valuable
Deserving of a job molding to them
A workplace finding a place for us
Instead of rejection for a bad fit
All staff deserve accomidation
When employers accomidated want
It’s not so radical to accomidate need.
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Stop pushing the narrative
Your suggestion it’s our faultThis thing we were born withIs victim blaming at bestAnd eugenics at worstWe don’t deserve thisWe didn’t earn itYour lack of compassionAnd your willful ignorancePerpetuates a harmful mythDare I ask you be more kindIn the way you view a stranger.
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leave the game
Peace is not easyThe world gets in the wayPeople like their familiarEven when it’s painfulFighting is what they knowHow do I avoid lonelyBut also not participatePeople come with dramaHow do I not get treated poorlyWithout always fighting for meHow do I not aim to winBut also not aim to losePeople want to be the bestI have to step away from itLeave the gameStanding slightly apartCautious towards the worldChoosing not to fight peopleDeveloping habits that save meFrom a culture trying to defeat me.
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public forced isolation
No more masks for youYou won’t be forced to vaccinateIt’s your right to spread diseasePassively killing in your wakeThose old “Ugly Laws” are goneBut you still actively shun usPut the burden of health on usBelieve only the fit should surviveYou don’t want to see us
Or understand our experienceThinking about us is tiringIt’s just easier if we are invisibleOne day you will be oldAnd age will probably bring disabilityBut that is for future you to knowCurrent you prefers your ignorance.
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supposedly imagined pain
The stories goes that I’m fakingMy discomfort isn’t realWomen make such a big dealAnd fat women deserve itAnd black women don’t feel itThey suggest I’m malingeringAnd I’m seeking attentionI should, “learn to live with it”They say mental illness isn’t painfulNor is rejection or lonelinessThe fact that it’s persistentMakes it less believableOnly a doctor can define itAnd throw a pill at it to cure itBut even without treatmentIf only I would believe myself betterIf only I was tough enoughThen I could stop my chronic pain.
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bootstrap envy
I envy the priveledge of bootstraps
The social ability to foster connectionThe physical stamina to work extraThe attractive features to fit inThe backing of family and friendsThe access to education and trainingToss in some luck and persistanceAnd you say, “That’s all it takes!”(To become a rare success story)But I don’t envy your ignoranceYou can’t see your own priveledge.