We demand an apology from those who came before, shaking our misery at them with war-torn eyes. The pieces of history they gave us are whirlwinds of responsibility, and condemnation is second nature as we reflect dread off of our trembling shoulders. But what if we stopped pointing our fingers? What if we respected the battles they fought? What if we opened our arms and said, "Thank you. Thank you for being here first. My heart may be...

People don’t sing and dance like they used to
My generation is a warning of what it could do to you
We must stop or we will make a mistake
A mistake that will be too late to unmake 
At parties, we can’t even talk to one another
Because we’re too busy thinking what we should post or in what color
On public transport, we sit alone 
I guarantee you will see everyone with a phone or a wire attached...

I sat down and read. 
Read all the almost seamless concinnity of the jumbled words written on the white parchment, 
the letters constellating in my mind while I’m piecing the composed puzzle together.
I bury myself in anticipation as the plot unfolds and unveils the mystery 
I've been waiting for all this time.
 The suspense rushing through my veins like rapid waters,
 I can almost feel the sensations of the character in front of me,
 the adrenaline coursing through their...

i look in the mirror
glass deceives me,
the girl looking back
mocks me and laughs
reassures me that i'm hideous
the repetition in reactions
over and over
starting to believe the words 
telling me i'll never be beautiful
i know it annoys you
that i can't simply say thank you
when you compliment me
no matter how many times you reassure me i'm
as you would say "brilliant"
i know i'm not
it simply can't change
what i believe to...

The world seems to improve each day
But that is just illusion;
You need to understand
A different conclusion

People suffer right and left
Lies are told, vows are broken
People rarely take the time; 
And live their lives unspoken

Kind actions go un-acted
And hello's go unsaid
I wish I could say otherwise
But too many tears have been shed.

All these seem so depressing,
But there's something you can do
You can wave and say "Hello,
I'm having...

Behind.
Lost.
Apathetic.
Dejected.

At the bottom of the ocean,
Only darkness surrounds me.
Its weight burdens my shoulders, suffocating my life-giving breath.
I see no end to this ruthless cycle of pain.

Things I used to care about,
I love no longer.
Things I used to succeed at,
I now fail.

Life passes me by while I stand in sorrow.
The direction I had in the past contrasts my now-haywire compass.
The ever growing weight crushes my soul.
Is...

Behind.
Lost.
Apathetic.
Dejected.

At the bottom of the ocean,
Only darkness surrounds me.
Its weight burdens my shoulders, suffocating my life-giving breath.
I see no end to this ruthless cycle of pain.

Things I used to care about,
I love no longer.
Things I used to succeed at,
I now fail.

Life passes me by while I stand in sorrow.
The direction I had in the past contrasts my now-haywire compass.
The ever growing weight crushes my soul.
Is...

a girl with 
eyes  
as big as  
the laughing midnight  
moon,  
whose vision  
expands  
from rolling ocean shore  
to  
rolling 
ocean  
shore,  
looks around 
at the big, 
big world  
and sees the things  
we simply cannot.  
 
she looks at 
a patch of dirt  
after a  
storm, covered in  
dots and dimples,  
and sees a  
thousand birds,  
feathers so full and 
black,  
eyes beady with 
hunger, 
beaks as  
bright as the  
midday sun.  
they peck holes in 
the ground  
to find worms  
galore.   ...

You need not worry.
She places her hand in my palm and
squeezes tight. 
Then she lets go. 
Her hands were warm, 
but not all warmth alleviates. 
Her words seep through me like I’m 
a piece of paper trying to resist a 
hurricane. 
Or a fire.

It’s August, and we can’t go outside
because the air is
unsafe. 
This is supposed to come in October.
But it’s August, and
we’re burning. 

They may shut our water off,
she says.
Why? ...

When the world has lost its colour and my stomach could not be fuller.
Blind me.

Blind me so I would be able to feel 
With heightened senses and foreign fingertips
Let me run them in the hairs of my lover yet see him as a stranger
Let my open palm rest on the dip of my chest 
Let it rise and fall with my heart, seeing in its desperation life unveiled

Blind me so that I would not only...

I’ve always remembered, and will continue to do so,
the grandmother of a little girl 
brought to life by tiny, simple letters
I found her on a dog-eared page of a book at the age of 4
It was over her departure I cried, tears falling down to the time-worn 
almost-black sofa in the living room in my house
That was the first time
words hit me 
so hard that seeds of them were planted deep within me
They later bloomed...

I’ve always lived in a house with an attic,
my fingernails forever dusty from running along
abandoned window sills, drawing spirals on wood left to wilt.
Underneath tent-shaped rooftops or
chestnut beams, skylights cracked in the centre
or musty vacuums of times long forgotten, 
lies my trainers, laces undone, soles still wet with mud from 
the only time I’ve ever won a medal, and 
my tea-stained mug from that one trip to Paris, 
rose tinted ceramic, and my first wax...

Dear not-quite-one-year-old me
That CT machine looks scary, I imagine that's true
Maybe it's just a spaceship
After all, you're going to be the first kid on the moon

Dear two-year-old me
The hill is the only way home, even if it looks steep
Don't close your eyes when the car climbs it
Open them, and look at the trees

Dear three-and-a-half-year-old me
You have a little brother! I know you hoped for a girl,
At least he won't steal...

(New!) Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jmV8G-qJypjfZnn5eu8oZc_JtDddnNJ7/view

half an hour, half a bite, half a life,
sometimes I feel half full of lies.

oh, i haven't told you about that before?

i guess there’s a lot of things i haven’t told you of the late.

secrets i haven’t breathed into your ever listening ears,
or exhaled into your coconut lotion hands
that always catch the words in my tears.

did you know that when I yawn I fall into the vacuum behind my ears ...

A permanent pit in my stomach
Lives a swarm of bees
That swarm free
Stinging my stomach lining
As if they are attempting
To protect me from thoughts
That are threatening
My body, their home
Intrusive reminders of the past
Leaving a stinger
In disintegrating fat
It hurts, but who am I to complain? 
Because with a stinger
Comes a burnt out flame
Taking his last breath and final buzz
I can’t help but feel irritated 
Silly bee, you’ve faded ...

I guess you could say I’m lucky.
My home life is great and I’ve never been bullied
I’ve never done drugs,
And, other than the smallest sips from my mom’s wine when I was younger,
I’ve never drinken alcohol. 
And I know these are all good things,
But it seems like the people who’ve seen the worst of the night,
Love the sunrise so much more,
And can write poems that they don’t feel the need to erase.
So sometimes...

What I wouldn't give
                To live in a world
Where people fell in love
                Not with money, but with minds

our love is strong, like a diamond
                 only we can destroy

How could a place
                 As beautiful as this
Allow itself to be separated
                 By the socioeconomic divide

our love is beautiful, a self portrait of justice
                  and we draw it proudly

Why do we let ourselves
                  Be less than our worth
And more...

https://youtu.be/el0sQl6u3WE 

https://youtu.be/el0sQl6u3WE 

I am from Christmas full bellies, presents, and Christmas hats 
From Le Reveillion: Mozza sticks, perogies, and spring rolls 
From bonjour and au revoir, to chien, and petite 
From humid air, airport shopping, swaying palm trees, and sandy beaches 
And from seasoned, fall-off-the-bone ribs each year in a Saskatchewan kitchen 
I am from surfing the big wake, floating at Kinsmen, and ice-cold marina popsicles. 

I am from a red and white maple leaf flag  
From a maple tasting waterfall to...

Accident of birth,
God’s hand conjured a curse,
and Mr. Vohra was born with a disease,
called the hunt of self-worth.
 
Where he’s from they got it skewed,
It makes no sense, it’s real stupid,
They honour love by killing it,
And the village elders play cupid. 
Corruption’s a steroid that they gobble down with chips and tea,
He grew paranoid and lost his faith in society,
He saw men pray to devis and put their wives on a...

it is April. forever’s as far as tomorrow but the sky is so close it stings.
    the fetor of the dogwood tree we drove away from six years ago
seeps through my bedroom window. 

last night at the dinner table my father announced he didn’t believe in free will,
so we bowed our heads to worship Influence.
        what I didn’t say: freedom, naked, is yesterday. 

dad, does it count as backfiring
if I’m wrestling         the gun to...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aVBm-na9nRMyqDPKQZrEZtKB5obX7M7p/view?usp=sharing

Light pink melted onto a powder blue sky,
fusing with the fuchsias and indiscreet reds.
See the orange sun as the centerpiece
when it sets, as a mother sets down her baby
on the softest of beds.
See the details on the clouds before they fade away.
It’s as if God painted the sky himself.
So beautiful you could cry; so mesmerizing that you try with your outstretched arm to touch this real-life painting.
Feel the cold air on your...

Humans                                are                        just                                        monkeys
            With                                    Twitter and                         Wi-Fi
        Who                     think they                        are so                                     cool
                since                             they                             have the                                newest
            phone


Humans                                are                        just                                        monkeys
            With                 three-piece suits                        and                         pompous speeches
                      Who                 think                they are            so          charismatic
            since            they                     got                     elected                            for
                        President


Humans                             ...

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," I said 
"I tried to"
She just smiled, showing all her melancholy 
the last leaves falling from her dying canopy

I don't know if she forgave me
I don't understand her
But you didn't try to
In the end, like everything else, she died
because of the things that you didn't do
 The things that I tried to tell you

Now, the aftermath is unfolding
and you still can't see it
all your eyes...