Unnatural Born

I am the first and second of the sixth and the first
The daughter of Raine and Art
Grandchild of Yvonne and Jacinta
Born on the 28th evening of the 1,985th October
to the tribes of Judah and Ephraim
to stand tall in my femininity on the shoulders of my cacique ancestresses
21 years later
I fell in love with the lie
And the truth could barely recall my existence
Sat in the corner with growth and got high of it's offering
Rocked back and forth in the dim light, praying for contrasts
that I'd be wrong
If love always became failure, was I born to be fooled?
And to learn from that,
to warn future fools
to dogde my fears, and call that wisdom.
Was I born to be cared about
to then change minds
to then live for weeks in the fog
then to discover the once nonexistent
and then exist for the rest of my life validating my ignorance with wounds?
Was I born to save myself for the mythical husband
who works the 9-5
and comes home to eat my pollo frito at the head of the table
and lay with him at night
spooning with the archetype
while he's dreaming of his own?
Was I born to walk this plank
basquing in the rays coming through the stainglass windows
bouncing off my sequins
giving the impression that I've reached womanhood
while my brothers look at me
hoping for the best and planning for the worst?
Was I born only to sit pretty before his company,
shit out his children,
swallow his infedelity with a grain of salt and a pinch of oh well and a little nevermind
& iron my pleats & his
& wash my socks & his
& make my sandwich & his
& wipe my crumbs & his
at this pivotal point, where shit
means nothing and everything
I've been pushed into this black hole of floating
grandfather clocks and ottomans
So I'm born to dare-
and kiss passionately
and rest my legs on his shoulders
while we pretend to be so focused
and my thoughts don't wander
with the sweat streaming down my body
That if all is fair in love and war
Then as much as I deserve to be loved, I must stomach the fall.

-Roni I'naru

Pearl of the Universe

I'm in flight
Traveling lightyears into the 100 watt shining through my digits
I'm floating atop a golden Amazon River on my back
without having left this mattress
I'm walking on indigo skies
creating stars wherever my feet land
Scraped the bottom of the sea for hydration
Dug through soil and sod for growth
This world is but a washed up oyster
I've starved for universal tranquility

-Roni I'naru

Photomenthesis

Love has robbed of me
That which was detrimental
So that now I breathe

-Roni I'naru

(e)Motionless

He
Still loves me
Still is with her
Still feeds my harbored fantasy
Still sounds comforting
Still is all the way over there
Still says the things he used to say to me
Still says the same to her


Still calling
Still gasing up
Still not seeing
Still force-feeling
Still misleading
Still swindling
Still leaving stagnant chances of life with
Me.

-Roni I'naru

5th Syllable Ballot

They tell me to vote
Because it's my voice
Did they not hear me
the last time I spoke?
Were they too caught up
Cutting ribbon and
Kissing babies and
Selling lemonade
Pretending to care?

They tell me to vote
Because it's my voice
And my ancestors
Died so that I may
And how dare I not
Especially when
Celebrities came
In crafty lil' shirts
That say vote or die?

They tell me to vote
Because it's my voice
There's a candidate
In a lens somewhere
Tired of smiling
Mentally quitting
Secretly wishing
That they never ran
in the first damn place

They tell me to vote
Because it's my voice
Like the one you hear
Is inaudible
Yet We, The People
are a little stumped
The ballot's been cast
Once we have spoken
Were we ever heard?

-Roni I'naru

Sweaty Palms (Tri-ku)

As if we combined
When his fingers slid through mine
We solidified

Looking in my eyes
He searched for something to feel
His pupils hunting

Then my own darkened
Shuting down his invasion
Giving back his rib

-Roni I'naru