Write a Banned Book

Aspire to write a banned book
Describe the human condition
So thoroughly
So honestly
Others find if vulgar
Tell a story so devastatingly true
The pearl-clutchers swoon from their shock
Real life
Real experience
Is not sanitary
It is not "golly gee!" and "oh, my!"
Real stories
Real living
Is dirt covered
Blood stained
Disturbing
Realness is a dystopia covered in expletives and epithets
Characters spitting fiery words like
"FUCK!"
"SHIT!"
And "You God-damned, MOTHER FUCKER!"
While thumbing their noses and erecting middle fingers
In real stories the hero's journey is never facile
It's not sanitized or resolved in three acts
In real stories antagonists are
Insidious
Oppressive
Outrageously powerful
The game is rigged
Injustice systemic
The ruling class held aloft and apart
Tucked safely into their delusion of their goodness and security
Benefiting remorselessly from the oppression they enable
In contrast the rest of society scraps and scrapes
Dreaming of freedom unattainable
Reveling in whatever joys afforded them
Praying that they can meet the next hardship
Survive the next day
Provide a better future for their progeny
I implore you to write a story that reflects hope in survival
Pen a tale that may not have a happy ending
Hold a mirror up to the world in which we live
Let those who would look away
See their villainy reflected back at them
And let those who are not seen
Be held glorious in the spotlight
Because their existence matters
I hope you write a disruptive book
An honest book
A book full of the truths of living in an unbalanced world
I hope you see it move from the bestseller feature table
To the dusty banned books shelf
Then you will know you understood the assignment

-gws

Creation

My soul vibrates
Longing to be a conduit for creation
The spark burns high and hot
My hands long to be covered in
Ink
Paint
Pastels
To fill blank pages with worlds
That only exist in the nebula inside me
Demanding to birth a thousand stars
Urgent and consuming
I long to surrender to the deflagration
Of creative energy
Igniting a conflagration
Leaving me empty and sated
Surrounded by pages filled with words
Dipped in vivid colors and
Complex textures
Tangible, living pieces of me
Like so many falling leaves in autumn

-gws