I Wish I Was Never A Defeatist (At Least I’m Honest About That Flaw)

There are times where I wish I took a psychology course

To realize how much my psyche has been abused in ways I never knew how or why from subtle forms

The hobbies I like(d) became objects of ridicule

Social awkwardness manifested in itself

My heritage also made me something to hate regardless of my character

Apologies were spoken ad nauseum for who I was

As if my mind wasn’t flawed enough

So many things forced me to be an autodidact

“Why even bother?” I would say or think

“I know I’m going to lose anyway.”

Stop it, brain.

“It’s always the biggest jerks who get what they want. You need to be cruel to be on top even though you’ll never get away with it.”

That didn’t come from my mind this time. It was bad advice. Get thee behind me…

“Try reprogramming yourself. They think you’re a stupid robot anyway. You’re just a useless piece of –“

SHUT UP!

The violation of my self-esteem affected me way more than I thought. Shame how any affirmative thing I say about myself can be construed as an ego.

All I do was lose, lose, lose, no matter what as I try to squeak out a semblance of a victory.

Morose Permeation

All it took was a revealed cover-up and one Tartaros of a sellout

The Bluegrass State never saw such a miscarriage

The ire magnified across the country

Was $12 million really enough for them in dealing with Breonna Taylor’s death?

Tell me if Justine Damond’s family got the same treatment

The insanity in this country wouldn’t stop there

There wasn’t a debate, but a yelling match between the two

Even pro wrestling promos had more sense and civility than that gaffe

Dog whistles and lack of policy questions were all it was about

Next thing, I know one was tested positive

But I thought it would just go away or possibly a hoax, right? (sarcasm)

These events indirectly added to the frustration

All I could see was a hopeless future

The lack of responsibility and equality was enough to darken my soul

My mind could only ruminate and catastrophize

I really am pathetic, aren’t I?

No matter how productive I am, I only saw bleak things

Protagonist Centered Morality In Real Life

I don’t know what is considered heroic in society anymore.

While I wouldn’t call myself the greatest moral guardian since I’ve fallen short, I would never get away with the things (let alone act on them) so many others would.

The innocent get slaughtered while the guilty are extolled.

The rules are goalposts moved whenever convenient.

They think that some petty reforms or cashing out millions would be enough.

What an insulting consolation prize.

I guess things are only evil when it’s not their “side” doing it much like the so-called protagonists having carte-blanche to do villainous things.

I could make a laundry list of fake fictional heroes gunning unarmed women, abusing children, committing genocide by starvation, or even eating other characters, but we’d be here all day.

Regardless of one’s opinions about scripture, Isaiah said it best.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”

There is truth as these double standards are shown.

Shame how everyone thinks they’re the protagonist in their own story.

Sound Mind Tercet

A sound mind is rare

When there’s so many emotions that can scare

Overactive imaginations that are everywhere

Tranquility in the Rain

As my head hits the pillow, I hear the symphony of raindrops

Landing on the roof

After several days without the skies pouring down, it was a welcome change of tune

I imagined each drop being an agent in purifying me despite being inside

Washing away the negativity as well as clearing my mind of such was something I wished would happen

There was something so calming hearing the rain landing on the ground

Yearning for a Better Future

I wondered if my efforts would amount for something bright

Not to be a millionaire or famous, but just something where I can prosper

This year, I certainly had my concerns and fears with the obvious

I’d be lying if I said I had none of those things

Everyone certainly is stressed at different levels, and I don’t blame them

Work, some classes, and my own independent studies gave me things to do

Okay, I do enjoy international films, but binge watching wasn’t a top goal

Sometimes I wonder if I’d be doing things on a bigger stage with my creative works

Not world tours or TV interviews, obviously

But something constructive as well as being able to help others

I don’t know what the future looks like, but I want to do what I can to make sure it’s good

Another Untitled Haiku

I don’t have the words
All the time to fully say
Something meaningful

10K+ Views Pt. II: Q&A Answers

Here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. I get to answer the questions I got last week for my 10K+ view milestone!

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“What was going through your mind when you wrote all those 455 posts? I mean did you ever run out of ideas or did you always had a topic in your mind(if yes you did run out of ideas, what did you do to bring yourself back up)?”

from Eggsandwich04

Well, I certainly have more than 455 posts at this point in time now. Haha! Okay, in all seriousness, my mind has been at different points when I made certain posts. I mainly focused on the Ospreyshire project for my spoken word stuff with the poems, recordings, and videos. I expanded to talking about news events and my opinions about different things. I ranged from sad, angry, serious, and occasionally comedic if the time calls for it. However, I think most of my poetry tends to lead towards sad or angry in hindsight.

I can’t say I’ve ran out of ideas since new ones pop up. Some of them will affect this blog since I still have more things to do with what Ospreyshire was made for.

“Who would say is or makes your blog audience?”

from Khaya Ronkainen

That’s a question that I legitimately thought about. I guess the people who I know mostly view and comment on my posts are usually other poets, some bloggers that cover serious issues, and anibloggers given my prowess in multiple blogs. Funny how I have that kind of crossover appeal with different types of bloggers.

“Do you have any favorite poets or collections of poetry?”

from Eggheadluna

Some of my favorite poets include Langston Hughes, Buddy Wakefield, The Last Poets, and so much more.

“Do you think you’ll still be blogging in five years and if so, care to guess how many views you’ll reach by then?”

from Lynn Sheridan

I believe I’ll still be blogging in the next 5 years. I don’t know if I’d be working on multiple blogs at once, but I could see myself managing at least one of them that far in the future. If I were to gauge how many views I could get then, I’d say 20-30K by then. It took 4 years to get 10K here, so I don’t know.

“What do you think is the best story you’ve written?”

from Scott of Mechanical Anime Reviews

Hooray! I’m glad there are people who know about my fiction/author exploits! That is a really tough question. Hollandus Landing was a very important book for me since it was the first time I showed off my cell phone novel projects let alone a full story to everyone as I serialized it live back in 2017. Another important story I wrote would have to be in the Revezia series like Praxis of the Disenchanted or the Electrum Trilogy. By the way, you can get Hollandus Landing for free or donation!

“It seems that you still have some hangups about yourself as it pertains to anger about self-worth based on what others have done to your self-esteem, so having said that, has this blog done more to aid you in self reflection and instilled in you a true sense of self worth or are you letting others get into your head and instill their thoughts, their prejudices, their biases as it pertains to you being bi-racial?”

from Shelby Courtland

Yeah, I still struggle with these issues, but I do appreciate you checking up on me. It definitely shows with some of my poems and some of the news stories that touched a nerve with me whether it’s racial issues or when I did that infamous rant against a certain movie last year. One of my weaknesses is that I can care too much about what others think of me. It’s NOWHERE near as bad as when I was younger, but it still slips in from time to time.

This blog has certainly helped with self-reflection and catharsis. I am slowly rebuilding that self-worth that was diminished after dealing with bullies and people getting away with their abusive behaviors even when I would call them out. There are times where I wished I was more aware about subtle forms of derogation like projection, dog whistles, or low-key insults when I was much younger (I guess taking a psych class might have helped for some of that in hindsight). Speaking as someone who is biracial, I did get my wake-up call years ago about how those who are mixed tend to be treated whether they have a white parent or not. Knowing about that reality certainly allowed me to do my own research about things I wasn’t taught (various historical events mainly like Black Wall Street being a major one for me then). At the same time, I’ve had a bad habit of having to prove my humanity, competency, and authenticity to anyone regardless of my ethnic background whether online or offline. I’m not singling anyone out because I’ve sadly had that mindset with anyone I communicate with. Getting rid of these prejudices, biases, or even assumptions out of my head has been quite the task. Hopefully, this answers your question.

“If you could witness the writing of a poetry collection (or novel), whose would it be, and why?”

from Ashley Capes

If I had to witness the creation of such books, I would’ve liked to have been there to have seen the process of the Circle trilogy from Ted Dekker (I read all the books years ago) or if I were to cheat with manga, I’d say Hikaru no Go. Wow, I sound like such a stan with the second example.

Thank you so much for your questions. I still have something else planned for this milestone!

Concerts Are Necrotized

I certainly dodged a bullet

When I threw in the towel as a live musician

Steams flow in digital portals

Siphoning all potential means to live

Phones in front of people’s faces

Apathy reigning over the live singer

Then there were 19 degrees of isolation

As festivals disappeared and possibly on life support until further notice

If I have shed my “music man” identity, then this was the perfect time to do so

I’d rather be known by my other artistic endeavors, writings, or my positive actions

All those who bullied me in the past for being a music fan deserve to shut the Tartaros up

Barking First and Loudest

A platoon of pointing fingers arrive with a wall of megaphones

They sound like several packs of dogs to me

Psychologically scalded by jeremiads and chastisements

I’ve been on the receiving end of those accusations

Regardless if I had a halo or horns in those situations

How short-sighted of them

I never tried to be a god as their pettiness is on full display

I couldn’t always fight back, but for most of my life I hid onto this resentment

The same things they’ve accused me of are the reasons why they barked in the first place

That or they defend those who don’t deserve such rhetorical bulwarks

Keep barking, your vices and those you stan(d) for are all too obvious.