|Prescription| - "Cloth" [9/12]

Infuriated with people judging me for speaking on behalf of others I wrote this

"Cloth"

Questions

So many fielded in my direction

“Step to the side sir, we require additional screening”

From authority to minority we represent a majority

Not wishing to speak on other’s behalf

Half can’t muster the voice to speak on these issues

The other half ventilate their struggles on deaf ears

A veneer of atypical political correctness and typical processes stifle progress

Scared of change yet estranged for believing you are the victim

We don’t want to sound profound for what we say

For we ask simple requests

Allow us housing, leaving us browsing for those sympathetic to our cause

Often called flawed and guffawed at for our issues aren’t perceived as real

Venereal diseases disseminate through minds of complacent thought

Sneezing our bacterium into an ecosystem obsessed with disinfection

Reflection on our state of being is necessary to promote progress

Regressing and suppressing our ideals we hope to deploy

Treated like toys

Tossed and lost when we’ve fulfilled our purpose

Demographic requirements to fill empty boxes

Abraded when delegated to our respective slots

Forgotten and begotten in this world we continue to resist and exist in

On a mission to amplify the cries of those who abscond their posts

Why me?

It’s not just me

Three million plus seeking the same platform

Unable to perform for we conform to societal norms

We must represent those who are “unrepresentable”

Excoriated and vindicated when they hear this rallying fry

The brown town cried and profound deniers populate this population

In a nation which understands injustice yet nothing is done

Not fun for one to sheepishly claim they stand for those who cannot

But who will?

We offer skills and labor most won’t undertake

Residing as stakes in the Earth

Unearthed as erosion continues

See us for who we are

These scars we display are not fabricated

Yet the idea that nothing is wrong is

|Prescription| - "Clockwork" [8/12]

The cyclical nature of the systemic issues we face is a result of our complacency.

"Clockwork"

Profit

What is it worth?

“A financial gain, especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent

A torrential rain of websites laundering clicks from gubernatorial wanton

Tick tock the clock goes as their time runs thing

Lacking oxygen, rations, and passion for they are commoditized

“Over half a million refugees pour into Bangladesh”

Over half the price slashed on these vegan juicers

These futures stifled in search of capital

Radical that AdSense makes sense to the corporations

Nations razed, families raped, and children’s mouths agape

“Here, let’s get this on tape”

It happens in America, Africa, Asia and more

We deplore the objectification subconsciously but share and like away consciously

As refugees venture into foray with little aid from global forces

The please go unheard and numbers go up in the third quarter

“Conflict, although morbid, makes us money.”

When their noses are runny with blood instead of phlegm

Running form your country because you don’t belong

How long can we witness this in silence?

Writhing, for we wonder when our time will come

As prophet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote while jailed in Birmingham,

“Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

We know these problems are present yet we do nothing constructive

As we are fed sophisms from destructive politicians on a mission to cleanse what they feel is impure

Yet, the purity of the forgotten souls is what we must see

These displaced race for shelter helter-skelter with not enough help offered

Change your conscience and feel the tension boil under your skin

For what will our kin say when they realize we were the bystanders?

|Prescription| - "Landfill" [7/12]

As a child, I was always told people in India and other developing nations would kill to be in our position.

"Landfill"

It’s better than it seems

Fret for your dreams aren’t fulfilled

Regret that your seams are uncomfortable

“My home is a landfill”

It’s better than it seems

Burning garbage and cyclical carnage plague those deemed insignificant

Foraging for sustenance in the last war’s airdrop

Wondering when rain will fall instead of bombs

Napalm for mom

Apache for father

Five shots for his daughter and amputation for brother

Physically incapable but mentally unbreakable

Those stories fill the bookshelves of our conscious

Each page fading with time for the spine corrodes

Leaving a plethora of unmasked injustice

For the one brother I saw get pulled over by five cops

For the vacant daughter

For the flagrant bothers that are fostered

For the foster care children with no home

Our home is a landfill

Riddled with withered daffodils and fulfilled corporate promises

Remus and Romulus betrayed the plebian

Yet the display of courage is all that is needed

Heed the words of others and listen

Perk up for their dreams and stitch up the seams

For it’s better than it seems

|Prescription| - "Terrorist" [6/12]

I wrote this after talking to fellow Muslims who felt this way

"Terrorist"

I am not a terrorist

I am brown skinned and American

I am a male with a frail soul from all the injustice I see

I am not a terrorist

I am an activist

For Muslim Americans who get stopped by the TSA

For Latino Americans who worry about their next night

For Black Americans who fought for voter rights

For Asian Americans who came to the USA

I am not a terrorist

Ignorant to the constant rebuking people of color face

Unaware that we get handicapped in the race of life

Facing strife due to the color of your skin

None of you would know

I am not a terrorist

For my hijab wearing sisters who can’t embrace their culture

For my dashiki wearing brothers who want to show their colors

For the oriental garb that doesn’t get shown

For the little boys and girls who live a virtuous life only to get gunned down

I frown because I am not a terrorist

I am an activist for the gay Arabs in my circle

For the humble people who choose to hide their individuality

But the reality is that people like us feel like we’re constantly performing

Resisting conforming for we want to have a voice

A voice that can be heard in a homogenous room

A voice so quiet you can’t hear it in the ensemble of dissent

A voice that’s stifled because we’re different

Answer me, America

Am I a terrorist?

How many times do we have to remind?

That we climb only to get the rungs kicked out from beneath us

Working harder than our counterparts only to get countered with farce

It’s harsh when you want the best for your country but they don’t want the same

They’d rather see your name on a mural and move on with their day

This type of activism is passive

One needs to realize the movement needed is massive

One where we bond in empathy, harmony, and beauty

For all of us are not terrorists

We are American

Hailing from overseas

From lands of palm trees or refugees

Please, stand with us.

|Prescription| - "Vacancy" [5/12]

No matter what you want to be and what you want to accomplish, that can be taken away by someone’s predisposition to something you can’t control.

"Vacancy"

Meet Travis

Young, hopeful, and driven

Aware of the live he’s been given

Realizes it’s a dangerous life he’s living

Not because of heinous crimes or petty fines

But the idea of being in the wrong place at the wrong time

At nine, Travis goes to school

Feels cool because his marks are up and his distractions down

Travis aspires to be a local governor for the town

Only to frown when people say he’s too young

But age won’t stunt our endearing runt

For he never puts up a front and does what he’s told

Travis imagines getting old

Helping citizens, aiding immigrants, feeding the poor

Waiting to grow to touch the door to his future

Forever wanting to appease his late father

But his father’s absence didn’t make Travis tense

It made him sense that he was his mother’s idol, her beacon

Too young to be alone on the streets on the weekends

Not because she doesn’t trust him

She doesn’t trust the world

The world where cruelties unfurl

Where anything is possible but maybe not for you

The world where we don’t choose how we go

So the telephone call from the police is a blow

“Our officer didn’t know.”

“No, Travis. Don’t go.”

Why resort to violence when retorts are silent

Only to leave another soul empty

|Prescription| - "Let Freedom Ring" [4/12]

Optimism is key in a dark world

"Let Freedom Ring"

The machinations of our foundations are faulty

Yet, innovation fails to achieve proliferation due to the stagnant discourse of this nation

As we trudge step by step forward we fall backward elsewhere

Nowhere but America where free speech reverberates

Those same people obfuscate those exercising their rights

Stop criticizing and demonizing

Listen to the perturbed around you

The misheard surround you

The inferred perfect world you think we live in isn’t achieved

People daily grieve over lost sons and fathers

Suffering from the loss of mothers and lovers

Compassion runs dry as our thoughts turn awry

Yet, the dismay that perpetuates was always present

People will always resent

There will always be dissent

There will always be residents in a hate fueled present

Those who occupy these warped worlds will live on the scorched Earth they wish to create

Just because it works for you and “it doesn’t affect me”

Does not mean that it doesn’t tear apart the lives of friends

Help the impoverished make amends

All it seems to be is an end to your problems but it simply is the creation of new ones

Go my companions

Bridge canyons with your words

Let the sounds of niceties be hears

Let it ring tried and true until friend and blue

If people try to minimize your issues

Aggrandize yourself

Realize that those who lack empathy have no place in your heart

Be a voice, do your part, and start the new tomorrow

|Prescription| - "Envision" [3/12]

The silent oppression minorities encounter is often overlooked and conversation is the first step in rectifying it.

"Envision"

No love or affection for the darker complexion

Affirmative action, how unfair to the white man

The white man who constructed the plan

To silence the voice of minority

But the minority is becoming a majority

Bare with me, the time will come

When diversity conquers all and is celebrated

As roles of power are delegated to the darker skin

Our kin will see that color isn’t defining

They will live on the silver lining

Not subjected to the writhing our ancestors endured

Ensuring a brighter future

A future where moochers of privilege will not be exalted

Demeaned for careening off the right path

Our society will have a tight grasp on the real issues

No longer misusing the power of mass media

Our future has been stifled for the moment due to corporate greed

What we need is representation for the citizens of this nation

So action can be taken against the silent injustices

But will we ever reach the mountain top?

I do not know and neither do you

Which is why we can’t stop climbing the rungs of acceptance

If a summit is reached we can only go higher

For we will never tire in the effort to create a more perfect world

It seems absurd but let my words be heard

Carry them to your classes and dinner table discussions

Rushing to a better tomorrow prevents sorrow

Letting society live in harmony

Can’t you see?

|Prescription| - "Iota" [2/12]

I often felt this listless existentialism and as I spoke with peers I discovered this wasn’t a foreign insight

"Iota"

Mass confusion and disillusion as millions pigeonhole themselves into mouse sized spaces

Word faces, unexplored places plague the people of my generation

This absence of an unbridled childhood doesn’t make me feel good.

It was widely understood that children are pure and malleable

That adults are infallible.

Yet, with the proliferation of unvetted information the terrorization rampant through the nation gets a stage to be heard

Many do not question or feel perturbed by absurd clickbait headlines

I can’t begin to recall how many times people asked

Where the red dot was or “Where the curry at cuz?”

People only hear buzz words

Words that punctuate, exacerbate, and permeate our culture

Creating divides and subcultures with no unification in sight

What happened to the nights we all felt as one?

Humans shared struggles, beliefs, and harbored grief

Looking towards another human for a sense of relief

Now we’re all taught to self-medicate because nobody really gives a damn anymore

But I don’t want to get lit anymore

I want to sit with plenty and discourse

Conversate about the past, future, and present

Not resenting those who aren’t like minded

I feel that being a listener and not a speaker opens up doors

To the palace of human interaction

Where infractions are taken lightly and conversations are held nightly

The desire for connection is inherent in all

Being alone makes the vast world we live in far too small

|Prescription| - "For The Future" [1/12]

This was written two months before Election day in 2016.

“For The Future”

Please.

For the immigrants like me

The Muslims like me

The unheard, the oppressed

Do not depress the button that spells “Trump” in the voting booth

You and I know he’s unfit and that’s the truth

After a year of lies and conniving rhetoric

Please

Do not make the wrong pick

Please don’t subject my people to ridicule, annihilation, and ostracization

For if the toupee donning dichotomy creating imbecile takes office

It will be the end of a nation

For the children and the adults of the past

Do not make this election our last

Disgrace the lives that fought for voter rights and safer nights

Punish the unborn children that will be born into a world of hate and demagoguery

If you couldn’t tell by now, I believe the future is at risk

Yet millions of Americans follow someone they laughed at on TV not too long ago

Tsk Tsk

If there’s one thing you should take from these lies

It’s that inaction is action but not for your cause

It simply supports the party of flaws

As a former Sanders supporter, Hillary is our only hope

Or the next few years will be a treacherous slope

Please, vote.

|Substance| - "Helios" [11/11]

After being in a constant state of depression I decided to seek out the beauty in life. I went outside and wrote this while admiring the warm weather and the passerby’s existing around me. Using my negativity to fuel positivity was a massive turning point in my personal development.

***This is also the last installment for my first project. I shared these poems so I could hopefully reach people who are going through the same. I want people to take their negativity they see in their life and use it to empower themselves. Realize that you are strong and you can weather the strongest storms. I thank you for everyone who has come to this website and read my work. It truly means a lot to me. I hope you can follow me on my journey in the spring to fight societal constructs and battle for equality

-Shawn Brelvi

"Helios"

Ethereal teal seals envelope the horizon

The sun rising and warming the Earth

The hearth rich with burning embers

As members gather for its reoccurring sustenance

When the sun basks us with its presence

We treat it like a present and not resent its gift

For the sun closes rifts between others and smothers us

The colors vibrant and the smiles abundant

Shun repugnance and abandon pundits

The fun’s what grips

Like Frisbee, candy, and feeling dandy

No plan B just go with it

Feel adrift in a sea of buoyancy

No fallacy to ballast me

No gravity to ensure depravity

Just pure bliss as the mist permeates

As we celebrate the presence of others

And fail to resent those who dissent

We bond in unity, in harmony, in the company.

Observing the beauty omnipresent around us

The geometry, the tall tree, the bomb green

The sense of freedom, unbridled child

Go wild in the day and retire at night

Not a care in sight

Take flight in your dreams

Where there seems to be a reality more perfect than this one

|Substance| - "Barefoot" [10/11]

This was the last poem that had this nadir tone. I realized why I was unable to focus on what I wanted to do and it was largely out of my control.

"Barefoot"

Apathetic and prophetic as I nap and regret it

My mind diverges into urge as I fail to converge at a single point

Adroit as I anoint the paper and taper off into disillusion

This illusion of confusion isn’t a result of reclusion

No, It derives from ubiquity

The infinity presented I resented for I couldn’t focus

Couldn’t hone in on my zone and now I’m listless

Remiss to the bliss I found in creative expression

Now left vexing at what the fuck to do

Only to up chuck and buck up when asked

“What are your career interests?”

The veneer I portray only to venture into foray

Lying to myself just to make it through the day

But nay, they say, you’re jubilant and exuberant

Your energy illuminates the darkest room

But inside the lights are out as my psyche shouts

As doubt accrues from the choosing of this path

Succumb to the wrath of the machine

Just for the green we hope to glean

But what good are numbers when in the eternal slumber?

What measures impact?

What pleasures are intact?

What must be severed to redact damage done?

Introspection leaves me clueless

Walking on hot coals shoeless

|Substance| - "Supernova" [9/11]

At this point in my journey I was doing a lot of self-reflection. I realized that I couldn’t be a miser forever but I still had thoughts regarding my state of being.

"Supernova"

Vacillation between vaccinations

Either the serum or delirium

The atrium hollow, devoid of souls

As coals singe the flat of my foot

Wracked and shook

A closed book waiting for wandering eyes

No looks for the launderer of lies

Pondering and wandering whilst squandering for purpose

Only to surface from a sedated slumber

Feel elated for the slated date

Only to get shaded when they flake

Aggravated at this lake

When it’s half past seven

In heaven at the dock

Emotions leaven at the thought

That it happened again

The refusal and bamboozle

As to how to solve this puzzle

With muddled musings

A puddle of my losing

Choosing to go back to abusing is futile

As I’d revile at my own stupidity

Ignoring my turgidity

Implore some rigidity

Implode from complacency

|Substance| - "Step into the Sun" [8/11]

I wanted to inspire others to find their inner peace so writing inspirational pieces became a theme

“Step into the Sun”

Stranded on an island

Disbanded from the group

Forever feeling aloof as I maneuver through life

Not because of the strife endured once before

But rather because life is a closed door

My hands wretch as my arms outstretch

For the direction I turn to is askew

Always being reprimanded for getting sticky fingers

But the thought still lingers as to what could have been

The rot kills as it disseminates through my mantra

As hills occur and valleys appear

Hills where the challenge isn’t clear

Valleys where the path isn’t near

Only to sear in the baking sun for my immobility

But my ability to conquer has been seen

I’ve been doling out accomplishments since fifteen

I’m obscene and careen to my desired route

Always smiling never giving a shout

As I get clout for coloring outside the lines

A sense of doubt should not be achieved

Perceive that your actions shouldn’t make you grieve

Because you see people who only have so much time left

Be a champion of your days

Escape the haze

Learn that the rays of the sun should kiss your skin

As we should strive to take all of it in

Enjoy the time spent with others

Forsake the bothers present

Don’t resent the fluctuations

Ride them in confidence to a brighter future

|Substance| - "Pursuit" [7/11]

Motivated to use my findings, I wrote an uplifting piece.

“Pursuit”

We live through the waves of uncertainty

Altered by unexpected influences

The senses once had dissipate

As neurons vacillate between paths

Subject to the wrath of the unknown

As these fluctuations groan on

The tone gets lower as the stakes get higher

Trying to compile one’s thoughts as the psyche is wrought

Caught in a bind

Nowhere to find advice except the self

The one that guides you through each moment

A path light that flickers and leaves you blinded

Blindsided by the bleak

Grinded by the meat

Want to be defeated

But fuck an incomplete

Thought, ride the vine

Climb the shrine

Be a beacon of innovation

Shun the rum, get it done

But have some fun, realize life should be lived

Don’t seek security in the hopes of happiness

Explore the realm

Be the helm

Be a knight in exuberant armor

Impenetrable and bolstered

Not deterred by the looming dragon

Not faltered by the doom arriving

Striving in other’s conniving

|Substance| - "Soul Seeking" [6/11]

I thought I would find answers in other people.

This concept is explored and it leads to empowerment.

“Soul Seeking”

This numbing succumbing feeling

As I’m reeling from all the mistakes I make

Only to take less caution in future endeavors

Never to waver again at the proposition of connection

But the juxtaposition of a drifting magnet

To plastic bodies explains the non-adhesion

In this season for cuddling for warmth and embracing for no reason

Only to be teased for my listless wandering

As I’m pondering for an answer

But the answer is her but is it really?

Why must we crave connection when lines are frayed?

And get back out there when we get played

God damn, I wish she would’ve stayed

So I could cradler her heart in my arms

As her presence warms my soul

As our conversations cease to be droll

I ignore the issues

Begin to misuse my desire

My desire to retire nightly to

My name called lightly

The lips open and warm breath wisps

Her skin kisses mine as time stretches

My stomach wretches because this is all fake

As fake as a three dollar bill

As fake as a “make you smaller” pill

The only reality is the existence of my isolation

And the resistance to condemnation

|Prescription|

After seeking substance and attaining purpose I realized that it’s selfish to withhold knowledge. Even if this knowledge is perceived to be already known. Reiteration is powerful and is effective in understanding the gravity and severity of such issues.

Through a wide array of lenses, we will deconstruct the unspoken and concrete oppression of minorities in the hopes of sharing our stories to elicit empathy

|Substance| - "Fork" [5/11]

This was the apex of my tumult and it was my lowest moment.

Yet this is what helped me get out of the hole I was in.

“Fork”

Trapped

Isolated in purgatory as I get caught up in my owns tory

Dilatory in action because complacency has set in

Where to begin, deconstructing definitions, horrifying renditions of

The future

The uncertain, unmarked terrain

As my brain flares, doubting every decision

As I long for an incision to make it all end

I realize the pain will never go away

“Choose how you suffer” they say as I vacillate between paths

Striving for guidance and writhing for purpose

But I’m assuming all of you heard this

The certainty but uncertainty wrapped in one bundle

As oversized children stumble into the abyss

The abyss where inhabitants are remiss and dismiss their true call

Yet it isn’t their fault they cannot revolt

Revolt leads to loss

Loss of capital, of faith, of hope

All one can do is conform

And therefore perform day in, day out

But isn’t that what everyone does?

So why complain when the problem is rampant

Can’t you see we’re on a sinking ship?

A falling plane, as day to day passion beckons our name

This is the type of poem that doesn’t have an answer

A conclusion to put your minds at rest

All that can be said is to do what you think is best

And hope that it guides you to being laid to rest

|Substance| - "Transient Opaqueness" [4/11]

I thought that breaking down my life to bare essentials would solve my problems but it merely exacerbated them.

Yet this phase was a learning process and it had just begun.

“Transient Opaqueness”

Ice shards falling

While I am sprawling out on the ground

The rough fluff submerges me into submission

On a mission to fade away slowly

My energy is lowly and veins contract

Eyes go black only to be awoken later

Later comes when the stress succumbs to the recesses of my psyche

And people actually like me instead of tolerating insolence

But insolent I am not

Sympathetic to the rot that permeates those around me

Seeking for meaning

Shrieking for leaving those who I loved behind

But the love I felt was artificial at best

Superficially resonating from my chest

The chest that holds a beating heart

The chest that takes a beating til dark

The chest that holds fleeting remarks a little too long

The plights of self-consciousness plagues my mantra

As I vacillate between two diverging paths

The path of carefree glee and a blindness of what’s to see

Or a path ingrained with struggle with rubble to sift through

And not one to guide you

This jagged trail is the one I choose

The unmarked, unwanted road is the one I goad to work for me

On a quest to find glee

With the power vested in me

I shall find clarity

|Substance| - "Definition" [3/11]

I didn’t realize it at that point but this was pretext to my isolation. I lost one of my dear friends and the only person I could talk to was myself

Self-involved poetry is by far my least favorite to write but it varies on the scope of the subject.

“Definition”

From dusk til dawn

It seems like nothing is wrong

But the errs on Earth are a song

Sounded daily like a reverberating gong

My so called “friends” perpetuating a lifestyle

That doesn’t make me smile

They revile while I go through the trials

And wait for me to return to my old ways

But my old ways were me stuck in a haze

As my eyes glazed over and the days got shorter

And I long for more substance

But not the substance of lethargy

Can’t you see past the daily regiment?

Of lighting up then coming down

Only to frown when there’s no more to go around

When the sound of the guy ringing brings you glee

I hate not being me, but me isn’t what you think, it’s who I am

As I fade into obscurity for not being “me”

And genuine moments are a rarity when I’m your “me”

I’m just begging to know who to be and I seek clarity

Before succumbing to vanity

For existing in the realm of nonconformity

Well I’m tired of conforming

Sick of performing

You don’t define me, I define me

Now that I’m free

I can see through the opaqueness that once was

Not chasing a buzz

To finally find out who I once was

|Substance| - "Wavelength" [2/11]

Even though I was doing the right thing for myself, others saw it differently.

This discusses the conflicts of wanting to be a better person but realizing some things had to go if I wanted to stay true to myself.

“Wavelength”

What a rarity it is to find clarity

My mind is a charity with rich donors

Who could care less about loners?

And only care about when the phone rings

It stings to see others revile

When they have no idea what’s behind my smile

The face I front and the explanation so blunt

“I’ve had enough.”

Times are tough when cuffs are broken

No words are spoken to the open book that I am

No one likes a blank cover

Yet they hover until I become ajar

But the time to be ajar is oh so far

960 hours none of them yours

So if need be, do your chores and check back when I’m ready

Deflect back when I’m steady

On this wavelength with new strength

To see the plainest moments in a new light

Not illuminated by lighters and flickering lighters

While relationships with friends old and new grow tighter

Am I mightier than thou for choosing this path?

No, not now but maybe in the future

When the dependents become moochers

The light switch flipped on

To analyze, what the hell was going on?

Wasted nights, getting faced without a care in sight

Only to feel the plight years later

And to ask oneself, where did the time go?