Apathy and incompetence
In healthcare
A fax they didn’t send
Prescriptions delayed
Labs to do again

Mis manchas de Bambi
Manchas blancas
Cubren mi cuerpo
La gente se queda mirando
Pero no les da asco

He says
I could never
Get away with murder
For I leave
Pieces of me everywhere

My poems are short
Written at night
In my head
I wake at dawn
Shake my memory

Strong hands
Hold me down
To the bed
I say to them
I have to go

You might know her
As blonde eyes
Or as the sister who bakes cookies
But you see
I don’t write this

When I think of my mom
I think of malt o meal muffins
When I think of my dad
Memories of a child
Chasing us around the circle

Don’t talk down to me
I am not a child!
Even children
Deserve respect

I am stronger
Than you think I am
I am weaker
Than I look

Why can’t I choose to be
somewhere in the middle?
Surrounded by extremes
Measure everything
With a grain of salt