21st Century Problems: A.D.D. Strikes Again (#14)-Louis Toliver Jr-Swartz, LA)

21^st Century Problems: A.D.D. Strikes Again (#14)"

There are 50 states that make up the United States. I am not sure how Puerto Rico and Washington DC fit into this…but sometimes both are considered the 51^st state. But I guess we kinda have 52 states. Can you imagine trying to get 52 people to agree on something. I can barely get 4 of my friends to agree on Whataburger or Canes. Canes usually wins because those succulent chicken fingers. They make me want to dance. They make me want to Harlem Shake…unfortunately I’ve never been to Harlem nor am I sure they like to shake. I did go to New York City one time and I took the subway to 42^nd street. I thought I was near Times Square, but actually I was in the Brooklyn, so the 42^nd street was different there. I am not sure there is 42^nd Street in Brooklyn actually. When I got off the subway with this random group of women, I was reminded of the Cosby show…not as classy as the Huxtables, but we can only strive to be Claire Huxtable. What if Claire Huxtable were the First Lady? If I were Vanessa, I would be scared. Vanessa had middle sibling syndrome…like Jan Brady. Jan. It’s hard being friends with someone named “Jan” or “Stan”. I’m okay with the name “Jana” but then I would need to meet a guy named “Stana.” Wait a second…there is so much productive shit I could be thinking about on the toilet right now and this is what I’m thinking about. Ugh, I don’t want to go to work...

Comments

Come Hither (Annette Redmond Walters - Lafayette, LA)

I meant it not this way but the tears just flow and my makeup smearing all the more, leaving behind that familiar filthy residue. I may have begun to drive myself away, dragging you down as well. But it's done, I've flipped the switch and now it's dark once more. How painful is the music to my ears, I can't stand to be alone in it, yet here I am again. I pray you fly back and safely and warmly to me, though I fear I've dug the grave too deeply. As the dirt shifts within my soul, I choke on those loving words I'd meant for you. All the fragments of light I see becoming smaller and I wish to be near you in your embrace that might make me feel the warmth I'm missing. And in reality, I doubt I'd breathe another breath without you. So come hither and quickly soothe my dying heart, you are the only cure I know. I cry and cry again, come hither to heal and love me. Come hither and help me dry my tears.

Let That Fucker Burn (John Chenvert - Napoleonville, LA)

Let that fucker burn. Let the fire crackle like the whips once did— like bone meeting leather, like screams swallowed by the trees. Let the white columns crumble to ash. Not as tragedy— but as truth, unearthing itself from beneath generations of silence. Nottoway is not a mansion. It’s a mausoleum. A lie carved in stone to honor the hands that held the whip, not the backs that bore it. They called it the “White Castle.” A place of beauty. A place for weddings, for photo ops, for pretending that horror can be made elegant if the curtains match the guilt. But no paint can cover what happened there. Blood doesn’t wash out with white linens. And pain doesn’t forget just because you renamed it history. I’m not Black. And I won’t pretend to carry that weight. But I also won’t ignore it. My people—the Guanches—were taken too. Our language silenced. Our land stolen. Our names nearly erased. So yes, I know colonization. Yes, I know what it means to be disappeared. But I also know this— my skin ...

Lunatic (Lily Lechler - New Orleans, LA)

“Lunacy” comes from the moon, Who cycles through brilliance and darkness Bipolarity’s patterns are not so easily assumed Opposites not so well harnessed Who cycles through brilliance and darkness? The girl who sits in bed, wrestling with Opposites. Not so well harnessed As she thought, her brain gives reason the slip The girl who sits in bed, wrestling with Her body, depressed, her thoughts manic. As she thought, her brain gave reason the slip And gives the gift of life in a dreamlike panic. Her body depressed her thoughts. Manic Lunacy comes from the moon And gives the gift of life in a dreamlike panic Bipolarity’s patterns are not so easily assumed

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