Dear Audience

I am exasperated 

From trying to gift you 

With a poem - 

Good enough 

To make your listening 

Time worthwhile 

I have a dis-ability 

Trending topics

Don’t make 

My poetry diet 

I use the pen 

As a sword 

To slice through 

My world of aches  

See, paper 

Is my favorite 

Kinda tissue 

Dear audience 

I wish I could 

Lighten up the mood 

Give you sunshine and rainbows 

But all I have is 

Pain, anger, insecurity

And I am not Eminem 

So no one is paying me 

To whine 

About my mental health issues 

Mom’s Spaghetti 

Dear audience 

I carry my bloody heart 

In my bare hands 

Often when 

I write and recite 

I weep

Honestly 

I am pained 

When the reviews

Rate my truth poorly 

But I am still here 

Hoping these words 

Can carry you 

Through the days

When life has no poems 

To offer

No stanzas 

To shelter you 

From life pains

Dear audience 

I wish I could 

Give you more 

I wish I could 

Turn trending topics 

Into trendy poems 

I wish I could 

Make you forget

About burning churches 

Sri Lanka Bombings 

Airplane Crashes 

But on most days 

I am exasperated 

From trying to salvage 

What’s left of my sanity 

I have hope though

We’re going to be fine 

Things will get better

Here’s a poem 

Review it 

Take it 

Use it

Heal.