To All of those
entering the new year,
To all those who felt
like they wasted their time,
during the 2023 season.
Ashamed,
Cause getting out of bed
Was like dragging nails
Down a chalkboard:
Painful.
Seemingly unnecessary.
To all those this 2024
That wish 2023 was their last.
Their last fight,
Their last struggling year.
To all those wondering
“Why do I have to do this?
Again.”
The cycle of the year,
Continuous .
Every birthday,
Every new year,
A reminder
That nothing changes these days.
Wake up.
Pour your cereal.
Cry.
Do the laundry.
Walk past the kitchen knives.
Get ready for work.
Hate the person in the mirror.
Grab another coffee.
Go to bed.
Shaking,
Cause the cycle doesn’t end.
Waiting,
Every day,
To just stop feeling.
Feeling sad.
Feeling hopeless.
Feeling dejected.
Feeling dirty.
To stop feeling!
To all those this 2024 season-
When everyone tells you
About their successes this year,
Just know,
I’m proud you survived.
Just know,
It’s another year alive.
Just know,
Even though no one knew,
You made it this year.
Just know,
That’s a celebration.
So when the clock strikes
This year at midnight
And a new year begins,
Celebrate.
Cause even if the cycle doesn’t end,
Even if you wake up dejected,
Your coffee is cold.
Even if getting out of bed
Is worse than styrofoam
Scraping across each other.
You made it another year.
A hopeless cycle,
Maybe?
But one you conquer
Everyday.
That no one knows about.

This is but a thought the truth of what our nation is coming to
Fiddle De De fiddle de dumb biden’s got his thumb up his bum, he gave Ukraine another lump sum.
Migrants galore, Chicago ignore. They say the American dream is a lore. It rocks me to my bitter core.
The opponent stays quiet, so there won’t be a riot.
My words are honest, but I can’t promise they won’t cause strife. Think of your life.
I’m not political, I’m not semitic
but I said it…
Eat the rich, but not the poor
too many citizens lying on the floor
My lord…
They say COVID is coming back and it’s going to attack. Relax it’s just tact
The election is coming The press is running and they are cunning.
My thoughts are clear a mere sense of clarity
A rarity indeed I’m not trying to mislead It’s just a seed.

In the corridors of power there is a chorus of concern
Resonating as economies crumble a nation, in a bind.
Prices skyrocket, burdening every dinner plate
Yet some remain loyal disregarding the reality.

The fabric of the economy is. Torn
Inflations rise births a storm.
While familiar names and claims echo through votes
The future hangs precariously on a thread.

We bear the weight of our livelihoods
With a future under scrutiny.
Promises fade in the face of realities
As citizens persist with wavering loyalty.

Americas vibrant and bold canvas
Now bears the scars of stories and policies.
Some choose to keep eyes fixed
Ignoring the unraveling truths before them.

Amidst debates lies a land
Struggling with uncertain destinies.
Willful ignorance is a path to descend upon
As the economy continues its battle, without resolution.

The power lies within each ballot cast
To shape our future and aim for heights.
Oh, nation, awaken and heed the calls of caution
For ruin affects us all.Do not let blind loyalty misguide us
Instead lets open our eyes to an approach.
Because in coming and being well informed
We find hope, for repairing the challenges we face.

Dear Cranberry Sauce,

It’s that time of year again to embrace you with an open heart. A lot of your fans are ready to devour you. Good memories of you flood my brain and give me happy thoughts. I’m eager to make more memories of you this holiday season with turkey, stuffing, candy yams, macaroni & cheese, and mixed vegetables.

Like biscuits with honey or cereal with milk, you and those foods work well together. You all are The Avengers of Food. Touching souls and hearts during the holidays. This is the perfect time for you with so much negative news consuming the world.

I believe cranberry sauce with Thanksgiving/Christmas can stop the wars that give the Earth sleepless nights. Maybe instead of sending money/resources, Congress should send lots of cranberry sauce cans overseas. That with some warm holiday food could take the blues away for good. One can only hope.

In the meantime, typing words and hoping they can help turn the negative tide will continue to be the game plan for now, and Thanksgiving/Christmas food with cranberry sauce.

Sincerely,

WE SAY THAT OUR ACTIONS ARE DONE IN THE NAME OF GOD.
The almighty creator who can do no wrong and across all doctrines
speaks of mercy, peace, and humility.
What kind of benevolent God would sanction this?

Did God tell you to murder babies in their sleep?
Incinerating incubators
Massacre lives that have yet to begin
while mothers hold their dead children
Feeling like failures for not being able to protect them
from a fight they never even asked to join?
Did God tell you to
plant an air strike against a hospital of the weak, and sick who are already fighting
death long enough to see the sunrise tomorrow?
Did God ask for any of this?
Or maybe you don’t really mean the version of ‘God’ you claim lives in the sky
and you secretly mean yourselves?

Governing entities gone mad with power
corrupted by corporate greed and claims to land that existed for centuries before a single person propagating or being subjected to this conflict were even an inkling of a thought.
Religion has become so embedded in the framework
of our governments that they’ve twisted the script,
used the Bible as a liability
and manipulated every single one of us
into thinking that the circle of men pulling strings
behind comfortably closed closets are God.

They don’t want you to pray for your own well-being
They want you to praise them
And think that continuing to behave as pasteurized cattle will help you fulfill God’s will
When in reality, you’re just giving them what they want.
More power
More control
More land.
If we don’t stop them here,
they will keep going.
Ravage every corner of this Earth
claiming to create the promise land
but the only thing that will be promised
is their claim to even more land.

HOW MANY MORE BABIES HAVE TO DIE BEFORE YOU SEE THIS?
How many more cultures have to be eradicated before you finally believe
what is happening on every one of our phone screens?
Of course we can deny confidence in the death toll of people we don’t even see as human beings.
What makes you feel they are any less human than me
or your own mother?
Because they were born on the ‘wrong’ side of a border?
Was that god’s mistake?
Is it because their family’s family picked the ‘wrong’ religion to follow?
Was that god’s mistake?
But oh no, I thought God didn’t make any mistakes????
So please,
tell me when you’re ready to admit if whether this is really God or have you been using him as an excuse?
We all know what true
but real change won’t come until you acknowledge this. #freepalestine

The title of this letter/post can sum up what I’m about to pen right now. What’s going on in the world currently, sadly I predicted years ago. See, I have this published book called “The World In Ruins” that I published in 2018 outlining what the world could end up being if we didn’t get our acts together.

What’s going on in Palestine and Israel is deeply saddening and it makes me think of certain chapters I wrote. ‘The World In Ruins’ chronicles a young kid who has a dream of what the future of this planet would be and it wasn’t good at all.

What makes it worse is the majority of what I wrote has already happened in a five year time span. I’m no George Orwell who wrote the timeless classic of 1984 (which was one of two books that inspired ‘The World In Ruins’).

I have a myriad of emotions but what can I do? I don’t want to become the prototypical guy who allows the media to dictate what to post on my social media platforms. I was never that guy and never will be.

To be the watcher, observer of what’s going on around me has become a huge component to what I write and how I write. I don’t consider myself to be any better than anyone else. I’m a human being like everyone else, just an average Joe. I just happen to be a decent writer that tells stories, that’s all.

Sadly, I always say to God, “I didn’t sign up for this.” This is not the world I want to live in and be part of. Somehow I have a role in changing the landscape of this world and sometimes I wonder if writing is all I need to be doing.

There’s guilt I should be doing more but I’m part of a system where I have to work to be able to provide for myself. Where do I fit in, in all of this? How does my voice fit in with those directly being affected by these catastrophic events?

Those are questions I don’t have answers to. Which somehow I feel is not a good thing. There are days where I’m mentally drained of all the negativity. Where music is my only escape from reality.

I can’t imagine being bombed where I live. I can’t imagine the trauma people will experience and carry with them the rest of their lives. We are at a place where the world is crumbling right before our eyes and all I can do is visualize the words I penned in my book.

There are things that aren’t as important to me anymore. Sports, watching TV for hours on end, being out all of the time. Now it’s writing books, recording audiobooks and podcasts, motivating and inspiring others, working out, reading and trying to make sense of this world and lifetime I’m living in.

All I can do is learn from those who really know the realities of their home country and be supportive. Or is there more I can do? Hopefully I figure that out. I can’t say the cliche line “pray” or “have hope.” It’s gonna take a collective effort to share the truths of what’s going on because the media will paint the story and image how “they” want you to view it.

There’s a lot to unpack and I don’t need to see the videos and images to understand the atrocities that’s going on. I’ve seen enough death in my lifetime, I’m good.

If we’re given platforms to share things, let’s learn from each other, share our truths but also expose the truths of what’s going on.

Just know behind my smile, there is a lot that goes on in my mind, I just don’t share it all…

Last night, I didn’t sleep well, as I had several nightmares. I was haunted by the endless images I saw in the news: A young woman’s naked, lifeless, unconscious (possibly deceased) body being paraded around as a trophy after Hamas attacked young people at a music festival in Israel, a 25-year-old woman begging for her life as she was taken as a hostage and babies whose faces were covered in dust and blood from the bombs thrown near their homes.

When I awoke this morning, I immediately read the news to see the latest. And while the horror continues on the other side of the world, I was also disheartened to learn that hate was just outside my doorstep.

People at rallies down the street from where I slept last night are wearing, holding, and celebrating images of swastikas and promoting anti-semitic rhetoric. For the first time in my life, I was and am scared to be Jewish.

While I have been doing my best to educate myself through the news, friends, and online resources, I am not going to sit here and pretend I fully understand the conflict between Palestine and Israel – because I don’t. And I know that it’s natural and easy to see the world through the lens of my own experiences and identity.

However, we all, myself included, should see and feel our humanity reflected in every person on this planet. And act accordingly.

As I try to process these last few days, the violence happening in the Middle East is not just about me, or any one group of people or politics. This cruel attack on innocent people is about all of us. It is a threat to all of humanity.

No child, no person, whether they share my background or not, whether Palestinian or Israeli (or any other culture, race, or religion), deserves to live or die in such an inhumane way.

There are a lot of issues we can’t and won’t agree on in this world. But we universally should believe in and tirelessly advocate for love, compassion, and peace for all people.

And sadly, right now, that’s not the case.

I am scared and heartbroken as I pray for the victims of violence, our world, and humanity.

****trigger warning: explicit mention of sexual violence****

In response to events surrounding a recent high profile trial.

You give your seal of approval
He’s such a good guy
He was a good friend to me

You bring up the wife and child
He keeps them safe
from all the dangerous men

You’re the face of a cause
but you mustn’t believe it at all,
not a word you say

Protect the children at all costs
Keep the daughters safe
from prying eyes and hands

Keep the prepubescent pure,
and rape the women-
she is yours, she can’t say no

Your words like a knife
etch your perspective and ill motive
into perpetuity

At least one in three
Rarely any recourse
No one writing her letter to set her free

Tally the victims,
tell the world they exist,
yet, no one cares to know
how many men are rapists

No, don’t be sorry we found out
It’s best we all know
what you are

Dear Virgin Galactic And The Tourists,

It’s been over a week since you all flew to a place very few have had an opportunity to see in person. Space! It’s well-known and mysterious at the same time, because of the places we don’t know that’s out there.
The morning I had the privilege to see you all take that incredible ride into space, It started off as a typical morning. I turned my tv and went to CBS News because that channel gives me comfort. Plus I really like the reporters they have on that channel. They do an outstanding job of covering news.

When CBS News came up, it showed two reporters talking as usual about a current event that happened.A few minutes later, CBS showed your ship and your crew about to take off in space. I was so excited to see what was going on with you and the people you would be taking along for the ride.

The crew members look so calm going up high in the sky. I was excited but nervous for them as I watch them rise up, like a person who had just discovered high self-esteem. When the tourists started to float out of their seats, I couldn’t believe it. I had seen that happen in so many movies on space. But to see it happen for real was surreal to me.

When you reach out in the space, I was thrilled like the tourists and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Seeing Earth like it looks in science books was too much for me. Seeing that bright light that looked like the sun made an already unreal experience even more unreal to me.

”Space is real. Earth how it looks in various pictures is real. The sun is real too. Floating in space is real also”, I thought.

I would get nervous, hoping that nothing bad would happen to you all being up there in space. Thankfully, you all would eventually landed back on Earth a couple minutes later.

If I was feeling various emotions from watching your flight experience, I can’t imagine what it must of felt like to actually live the experience. So thank you for giving me (and others who watched it) a taste of the space life.

Sincerly,

Dear Summer,

You’ve been a welcoming change from the cold and cloudy days we had at the beginning of the year.
After a long Winter that seemed like it would never end, you came with a vengeance in June. Seeing the sunshine and giving life to the sky lifted my spirits. It was also great having beach weather that makes it great to go to North Beach in Corpus Christi.
Seeing that beautiful green water and seeing Seagulls flying all over the place is thanks to you. Seeing people at various stores, who I don’t usually see during the Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons (unless it’s a holiday) is also thanks to you.
I appreciate your season and contribution to helping planet Earth, but, you can leave now.
The heat you brought with you this year has been relentless. It’s been 100-degree weather every day. But the relentless heat doesn’t stop in the daytime. It speaks its mind at night too, making the AC and the fan almost non-existent.
A few minutes ago, I went outside on my balcony just to enjoy the beautiful view outside with the sun & blue sky. Usually, I’ll be outside for 30 minutes to an hour. I only lasted a few minutes outside thanks to your heat & humidity.
The power of the humidity consumed me immediately, but I tried to be a good soldier about it until I couldn’t handle it anymore.
If your thermostat would turn down some, I would be good with you hanging around a lot longer, but this 100-degree weather isn’t going away anytime soon, so I’m good with you being gone until you come around next year.
I thank you for your service, but it’s time for you to go underground.

Sincerely,

Dear America,

As Friday unfurls its grandeur upon us, let us take a moment to ponder our personal evolution. Have we shed the skin of our former selves to embody a better version of us? Or are we stuck in the mire of the familiar, resisting the clarion call to change and swimming in the stagnation of the past?

Let us shine a light on our path ahead and strive towards a new dawn. Do memories of our journey loom large, threatening to hold us back from fulfilling our potential for growth and freedom? Consider what your legacy would say to your present self- does your life matter enough to push for positive change for yourself, your loved ones, and your communities?

Perhaps you’ve been running from change like a plague, unable to articulate why it feels so alien and daunting. But remember, with every failure comes the invaluable gift of wisdom. And with sacrifice comes abundance. Embrace change with open arms, for it may shake the very foundations of your existence- but only to take you to heights you’ve never previously imagined.

Love without Regret,
Rashan Speller

Dear Ralph,

I’m saddened to have read about what you went through last week. No one so young should experience getting shot twice by a homeowner. But sadly, you’ve got to see an extreme side of human nature. Some people have no conscience for human life, as we keep learning through modern news reports.

It’s also disheartening that you went to three houses before you got the help you desperately needed.

It saddens me that you have probably been wondering what happened that day, but I’m glad that you’re still alive. I’m so used to hearing that the person didn’t make it after being shot at. That says a lot about where we’re at as a society. We’ve become desensitized to this kind of news because it seems to have every day.

That needs to change quickly. I just wish more people would act on that change and realize that acting violently on impulse isn’t the way. It only creates destruction and chaos for the individual and their loved ones.

Your healing journey has begun. Hopefully, the love and support you get from others empower you to continue on your journey and to maintain being a talented musician and student. I’m rooting for you to let your light shine even brighter. Hang in there and remember, trouble doesn’t last always.

Sincerely
Gerald

Dear Ralph,

I am writing to you today with a heart that is heavy with sadness and a mind that is filled with outrage. The news of your shooting has shaken me to my core, and I cannot imagine the pain and trauma that you and your loved ones are going through.

It is as if a storm has descended upon you, a storm that you did not see coming and were powerless to prevent. And yet, in the midst of this storm, you have shown remarkable strength and resilience. You are a beacon of hope in the darkness, a reminder that even in the face of senseless violence, there is still love and compassion in the world.

The path ahead of you may be long and difficult, much like a winding road through a treacherous landscape. But I know that you are strong enough to navigate this road, and that you will emerge from this experience even stronger and more determined to make a positive impact on the world.

It is my hope that this tragedy will serve as a wake-up call to all of us, a call to action to stand up against the senseless violence and injustice that plagues our society. Let us work together to build a world where young people like you can walk freely and safely, where the color of your skin or the zip code you live in does not determine your fate.

As you continue on your journey of recovery, know that you are not alone. You have an army of supporters and well-wishers behind you, cheering you on every step of the way. You are a symbol of hope and resilience, a living testament to the power of the human spirit.

I send you my deepest love and support, and I pray that you will find the strength and courage to overcome this storm. May the sun shine brightly on your path, and may you always know that you are loved and valued.

Sincerely,

Your brother

Dear Universe,
It happened in my city. My beloved home state of Missouri.
Right down quite a few blocks and around a corner or two, it happened.
The amount of fear and rage that circulated through me felt like a time warp.
I felt helpless and did the only thing I knew to do.
I hurriedly jumped up and peeped in at my young child, nestled on the carpeted floor playing with his treasured stuffed animals, Mickey Mouse leading the football play and Baby Hulk following through with a touchdown to win todays “Stuffed Super Bowl.”
My child, happy, thankful, and relaxed that the school day has concluded relishes in many smiles and giggles.
Much like yourself Ralph, my child has a zest for life. His eyes twinkle like yours when something is intriguing, he tries his best at his academics and as you know 3rd grade was no easy task.
He genuinely loves those around him and tries everyday to be better.
I see my son in you and you in him.
I hugged him tighter that night and the next night and the next. I told him I loved him repeatedly because I truly didn’t have any additional words that would have made an impact other than that.
I love you as well Ralph. You are the Son of suns, the forest moon and the abundant stars of Faith that aligned with you that day.
Within this realm, you have a covering over you that is extraordinary. You are peace.
I am thankful for your bravery, your continuing strength even when it hurts, and the power you hold inside of your soul. Never lose your zest for life, never give up on your goals, never be afraid to be afraid and always ask for help even in this world. Your needed.

As a Mother of a Beautiful Black Son, to ALL the amazing Sons out there I LOVE You. Life is never supposed to hurt like that. My prayers will continue to warm God’s ears that things like this and other unruly inhumane matters of the world will cease and we band together for positive change and genuine love, support and happiness within each other.

P.S ….. Son, my door will always be open.