Impish grin, he approaches,

Despite shriek shouting, ignores, encroaches,

Fingers find a tender spot,

I plead, I bargan, but all for naught,

Features may betray as blithe,

Beneath my laugh I wriggle and writhe,

I love this man, but becoming fickle,

Refusing to cease this unending tickle,

Heart sputters, "Wait!", Brain triggers, "Attack!"

It could not be helped, since I laid on my back,

Swift as Taylor, flex en pointe,

Foot reflexively greets teeth, torture finally disjoint.

This morning was quite alarming,

When I abruptly wound up harming,

My hand by slapping the clock harder than I had before.

Confounded and in a panic,

In that moment literally feeling 'manic',

As I realized my body was not as it was before.

Then I realized, here is a chance,

Today I will wear the pants,

Much more literally than I ever have before.

Thinking, dressing was so simple,

Without makeup, my free-time tripled,

Got to eat breakfast and even seconds, and I never had before.

Walked out to my elevator,

Meet my newest next-door neighbor,

And politely I greeted her since I hadn't yet before.

She eyed me, nodded, clearly wary,

I was a man now, it could be scary,

To be alone with one, as I had learned before.

Walking to work never felt more freeing,

The simple pleasures of just being,

No more catcalls, or zigzagging streets like every day I did before.

Men passed by, no sneer or creepy smile,

But the poor women all meanwhile,

Clutched bags, high on alert, as I would have done before.

Just a no-name at my job,

But as I to grab my drawer knob,

I was promoted to the position I had applied to a hundred times before.

New 43rd floor coworkers jested with malice,

Who would first take out new secretary Alice,

It reaffirmed why I had never attempted to have her job before.

After work I walked back step by step,

My delight had lost much of it's pep,

I really hadn't seen the extent of what I'd put up with before.

In my bed I tossed and turned,

I thought of all the things I'd learned,

Perhaps ignorance was bliss, it had hurt me less before.

Once again I felt a change,

My body began to rearrange,

My emotions rose, I wept tears for the degradation I'll face forevermore.

Wasn't every day doomsday?

Panic fueled the blue-green globe,

Teeming, originating out of sheer survival,

Yet viability trumps parallel to conflageration,

Oil and water never settle their differences.

Rusty regolith creeps in crevices on Hawkins underside,

Fresh prints linger crisp blood-red snow,

So long as marks made here left less impression,

Than the ones pressed into Earth so deep,

Introduces balance on a fresh new home,

Exquisite equilibrium medially distress and endurance.

Salty fresh air, cool breeze blows,

Trees left and right, ocean flows.

The best childhood to give,

Daring to believe that fairies live.

Magic warms you belly to heart,

Leaving would simply tear one apart.

Where else is high school a palace?

Orcas pose midair, free of malice.

Enchanted forest, nursery rhyme park,

Ride a ferry see yellow jellyfish against dark.

Sweet fruits blossom, berries to pick,

Scent of rain needs no candle nor wick.

Circus of elephants in a large dome, Walking down streets, feeling at home.

Growing up one long memory of good,

Tacoma, you'll always be my neighborhood.

"No sun today," Mused Alice Faye,

The shyest gal west of the Mississippi,

It was impossible to sit and stay,

Farming requires work for survival.

Grabbing keys, coaxing the truck,

Roaring down Trihard Lane,

Praying that this day she'd have luck,

Not to cross paths with Travis.

Sputtered to a stop in the field,

Laying out posts and barbed wire,

Arranging the pattern while she kneeled,

The faint hum of the KTM found her,

Cursing quietly so God wouldn't hear,

Alice Faye busied, digging holes,

Pulse matching the engine so near,

Driving home was simply not an option.

Screeching brakes signaled an arrival,

Head down, Alice steadied the first post,

The tobacco scent gave away her rival,

It was Travis, and he was hell-bent.

"Sugarplum!" He drawled, spitting at her feet,

"Take a break with me by the lake."

Flashbacks of shame ignited facial heat,

Grabbing a sledgehammer, she ignored.

"Sweetheart." The tone was impending,

"Come now, I'll make you feel better."

Ironic, he was why she needed mending,

Courage mustered, she shook her head "no".

My what a fantastic, freeing feeling!

A new movement not once used,

Unscrewing rusted tools left her reeling,

Neck forced an unfamiliar fouetté.

Blinking rapidly, Travis rubbed his eyes,

Barks of laughter as he asked once more,

Insistence up, would "no" be her demise?

Courage ebbs, hands slack the hammer.

Alice Faye looked into that monster's face,

Flashbacks haunting her very core,

Strength returned as she stood her place,

Memories threatened to become future.

"No!" She swung the sledgehammer down,

Post nestled deeper in soil,

Others heard it four miles away in town,

But perhaps Travis lacked his senses.

He dared repeat what he already said,

Many times that day, and others before,

Made her so mad she slammed the lead,

Onto the post, screaming once more.

"No no! I won't go, you can't make me!"

Pounding easily on the next post,

Energy zapped through viens fiercely,

Using this power she rushed on and on.

Each slam of the hammer resulted a shout,

"No Travis, no messing anymore!"

Couldn't even hear Travis plead and pout,

Sun seeped to night, stars bled out glow.

Alice Faye stood back, squinting by moon,

Shocked at fence length, over a mile,

After her outburst Travis had left soon,

Smiled despite ache and exhaustion.

The no, spanked out as a wee child,

Found it's way home to her instinct,

Feeling brave, outspoken and wild,

Throw off halter, built her own boundary.

When she was but a lass,

Underappreciated and young,

Often rested on tree limbs,

In the moonlight there she hung.

Til one day, t'was realized,

She scarcely could be found,

All that once had mocked her,

Slippery smiles turned to frown.

"What are we to do?" They cried.

"How dearly we miss her so!

Her body petite and slim,

Surface soft and white as snow!"

Indeed she left things better,

Than they were before she came,

Her touch was a comforting whisper,

And Charmin was her name.

Until one day she came back,

But not enough to go around,

A mighty makeshift tournament,

Only the toughest stood their ground.

Victors took her home and placed her,

A queen next to their porcelain throne,

At last receiving attention well deserved,

No longer a plaything by teenagers thrown.

Pale faces stretch forth into sunlight,

Earth cautiously sighs winds of relief, "It is over!" chorus the sea of humanity,

Flame of plague burned out in disbelief.

But what lingers behind smells foul,

Sparks anew ashes fluttering in air,

As unseen as the minuscule germ,

That merely days before resided there.

Smiles abound but only on masks,

For we tremble fearful beneath,

Leaders of power spout pleasantries,

But the virus, distrust has bequeathed.

Arms reach outward to clasp hands,

Halt apace, bacterium occur in thoughts,

Lackadaisical stutters whilst retreating,

Tree of brotherhood sours and rots.

Silent rush dominos, just as it had before,

Each resume abiding within their worn abode,

New disease settles in, blanketing minds,

Fear trickles deep, fear foments panic-mode.

Not the apocalypse seers envisioned,

Yes streets barren, but alive merely hide,

But a fate worse than visit from reaper,

Isolated indoors we self-buried alive.

What a fool is a man who inquires,

"Where can I find happiness?"

As his child slumbers in his arms,

Yet we are all dense, hypocrites,

For who among us ages untainted?

Blame entertains two parties minimum,

We often hold the antidote; truth

Yet most let it spoil, sit unused,

Unwilling to waiver infectious appetite,

Truth sets free only those who seek,

Habitual creatures scurry deeper,

Quaffing toxins, fantasies ruminated,

Knowledge scours blinding hot,

Searing throes, but begetting sage wights,

Muscle accrued moiling limits,

Pressure induces reform,

Holding back increases tension,

Though forsaken, verity will ascent victor.

"Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

-Agent K, Men in Black

I can honestly say I never thought of all quotes, my favorite one would be from Men in Black, but here we are. This quote shows to me how little we actually know, but it's comforting because it simultaneously makes me feel that anything could happen, we just may not yet have the knowledge to understand that yet.

Deepest comfort, warmth permeates,

Hearts bared out loud, shame exstingished,

Insecurities fade, fast as a tan,

Stroking my pale arm, constellating freckles,

I tossle his hair just to peek at the silver patch,

The one he used to hate, to pluck and oppose,

Kiss his smile, makes me smile,

But more than touch, a true ,

No coincidence was uncoincidental,

Eyes need not shift in his direction,

Sensing his very thoughts,

Words spoken in a silent tongue,

Next moment is cold, unforgiving,

My heart didn't break, my very soul relinquished,

For this hole punched out, allows only one key,

That key changed its form,

By the cheapest locksmith,

Dirty trick old friend, or whatever you became,

People pass by my vision,

Emptiness passes my mind,

This handshake feels,

Though garners null emotion,

Nobody to give thought of but myself,

Is a miserable existence, is isolation.