WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU PAID RENT?

When is the last time you paid rent?

You can’t pin yourself up in a room in my head and forget to make the bed,

Or spray some Febreze so it won’t smell like you anymore.

You continue to return unannounced when I have moved on like this is some kind of bed and

breakfast, but my mind is full of houses and apartment complexes that only accept permanent

residences.

The quaint conversations and gentle gestures do not make up for the expensive electric bill for

leaving the light on in my head.

Who knew you would never come back to turn it off?

But you were just in time for dinner.

You loved taking things that didn’t belong to you,

And I was left unprepared when I found my property poached.

I constantly see you loitering the halls of my consciousness

As if you have the right to be here.

Am I confused or did I make you believe that you owned a mansion in my mental?

If so I haven’t seen any mortgage.

Most importantly, I invested in your ego and you evolved into an enemy,

Vandalizing my exterior so no one else would check out the interior, making me feel inferior,

When I am the landlord of my own frontal lobe.

Burning sage and exorcism don’t extract you from my existential

Because you are realer than any thought.

Sadly, you can’t be charged with breaking and entering.

There are no signs of forced entry because I obliviously left the door unlocked,

Alarmed by your unexpected arrival.

Misinterpreted memories misguided your mistrial letting you free to go.

I hate to be rude and evict you from my brain but if that’s what it takes to bring up my property

value, then I believe that’s what must be done.

So the lease is up and I can finally look forward to some appreciation.

You will longer devastate my subconscious subdivision,

Control my cognitive community,

Or ride my train of thought without any fare.

So the next time you come around,

Your belongings are precisely placed on a mat that says that you are not welcome

This weeks poet is Dequadray White a member of The University of Wisconsin's First Wave Program which you can learn more about here

Dequadray is a visual artist, poet, singer,activist, writer, and lyricist from Atlanta, Georgia. He started doing poetry at the age of 11 and has since been published in 4 anthologies and participated in several poetry slams. The one thing I love about Dequadray is that he puts 100% of himself into anything he does. You will get nothing less, and I feel this is very important. When an artist puts him/herself in their work they are not only telling their story but telling other's stories as well. People like Dequadray give a voice to those without one. It's like by him expressing his emotions, his experiences, and his thoughts he is making a statement; one that says to his audience: I am here , and you are not alone. As Dequadray explains "As an artist, through my experiences and emotions I create work that communicates what I feel; it helps me heal and through that healing others will find healing too." Dequadray is also releasing his first album the summer of 2017 called Shady Elevator Music which consists of soulful, feel good music that speaks on his thoughts and experience as an individual.

You can follow him on Instagram here you can also follow him on Snapchat @pro_anti