Not a perfect puzzle piece.

I’m not a perfect puzzle piece
slightly bent and it’ll never fit back in
the last piece and it can’t be finished
because I never belonged.

A distorted image
layered on in the factory
slipping out unnoticed
a defect
and I accept that
because I don’t want to finish
the picture on the box.

My mind it’s not patient
and it often rejects
social norms and traditions
although it accepts the ones
it finds acceptable.

My mind often doesn’t agree
with the reasons given
and the logistics behind mathematics
it’s like 1+1=2
great until you add an x
and begin to state statistics
in which my head
does a full exorcist
like no
the world isn’t perfect enough
to fit your statistics
and complex strategies
no I’m not interested.

My puzzle piece
picked up last
and the puzzle activist
shoving it
hitting it
pushing it in to fit
and it wont
it’ll jump right out
and the image will never complete
because that’s just me.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina

Rarely noticed.

I’m rarely noticed
rarely catch an eye
or maybe I’m just solid water
and the closer a body gets
it freezes
and their hands freeze up
so they distance
to warm up
because I’m cold
uninviting
because I have strict guidelines
distances I’ve followed
years before it became protocol
and they want warmth
and they want lies
because lies keep them feeling nice
and keep them feeling pretty
and living this body positivity
that only counts if they don’t try
if you don’t hit the gym
if you don’t run miles
if you don’t eat less
because those of us
who truly try
we’ve become the weirdos
often told we’re lucky
our metabolisms are fast
and my eyes roll so fast
I have to place a hand to my face
to force them back in
feeling sad
for those that truly believe
weight loss is impossible
because it isn’t.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina

The shards of brain piercing my heart.

Humanity hits hard
and I feel fragile.
Every hit breaks
another piece of glass
sending it throughout
my blood stream.
The shards of brain
piercing my heart.
I feel the holes opening
and their painful recovery
to close,
only to be opened again.
I can’t break free of this humanity,
of the make believe
I have come to believe in,
even if I see its flaws.
I try to keep up
with the standards
feeling a failure within me
although I don’t agree
with the traditions of the dead
and yet I strive for perfection.
What is perfection
besides dreams of someone else?
Perfection isn’t me
and perfection is often
rejected by my eyes
and yet I feel failure?
Because their beliefs
have burrowed so deep
within me.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina

S-O-U-L

Do you have a soul?

Uhh yea I’m wearing shoes,
see they’re a little worn down.
Although I’m not ready for a new pair yet.

No I meant a soul.

Like the soles of your feet?

No a s-o-u-l!

What’s that?

It’s a soul, you know who you,
what you are.

So like my personality?
It’s a little rough in parts
but I definitely got one of those

No not your personality.

Oh is it like that thing
that retains your appearance
when you become a ghost?

Yea something like that.

Oh well I don’t have one of those
because I don’t believe in ghosts,
at least not in that sense.
I believe in energy as feelings that linger.
Not the full scale horror picture of a ghost.
No I don’t got one of those
that’s make believe
made for cinematic production
and better story telling.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina

Prisoners

Are we all prisoners
of this civilization?

The bars electrified
by the memories of our pasts
and each time a finger slips
our brains fry a little bit.

Freedom is impossible
when the bars are invisible
and our currency
is paper
because paper can set on fire
and our currency is computer code
because computer code
can be served to another.

The ones with the most
they to answer to death
because the solution hasn’t been found
at least not for us
not even for the richest we hear of
have beaten their mortality
nor have they escaped their bars
because their rockets
are chained to Earth
bringing them back down.

This place here
is hollering at us all
and it wont let us forget
that we are animals
and animals feed
and animals try to survive.

Our morals are conflicted
covered in the red liquid of our pasts
woven within history books
written by biased eyes
in which truths
are never truths
and our pasts
will forever be ugly
and our futures
are fighting our animal instincts
in which tell us
we need to escape
in which we react
trying to leave our homes
in which the truth
that we ourselves are animals
and it’s ourselves
that we will never escape
keeps surfacing
because we will forever be
HUMANS.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina

The coldness.

She moved through rooms,
walls never stopping
drifting through
observing the habitants.

The coldness
was an indication
she was near.
The thermostats at war
clicking higher
and at the same time
each night
the wailing intensified.

As the sage burned
the habitants called out
asking once again
why she was stuck?
Why she chose to stay behind?

Decades past
faces had changed
and the memories
slowly losing their intensity
only the emotions lingered
no longer could she remember why.

An apparition of pain and anguish
without recollection of the events
because she died
before she could let go
of the pain inside herself
unlike those that inflicted it.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina


I find myself in lows.

I find myself in lows
wondering why
a long line to the finish line
is worth it?
Rather a short cut
a dash and a slip
within a short sleep
right before thought
cuts out and there is nothing
and the constant worry
and the stress of my humanity
comes to a halt
and I feel nothing.
Finally.

I don’t,
I haven’t,
I won’t
take short cuts.
I live for my children
finding a sense of worth
in keeping them safe
as my thoughts
carry me through a low
and I feel defeat,
and worthlessness
knowing that doesn’t matter
because the moment I chose
to procreate
I stopped living for me.

I keep the pace
and I keep going
and pushing past all the thoughts
of hopelessness,
defeat,
stress,
and the worry
because I must.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina

I don’t hate people.

I don’t hate people
nor am I disappointed in us
I feel we’ve evolved
and we have more space to grow
and to change
and make better decisions
and I have faith we will
and I know there will always be those
that want more
that take more
that own more
that build more
that take more than needed
to flaunt it
while giving back
to save on taxes later
because being superior
makes them feel better
and that’s ok for them
because even though they exist
I know we can grow
and we can change
and there are those
that can be relied upon
and those are the ones
that are worth it all
and I thank them
for striving for better
not only for themselves
but for us all
no matter our outer differences
rather they believe
it’s what inside a mind that matters
and those are the ones
I place my faith in
and those are the ones
I give to.

Thanks for reading.
-Temperamentally Tina