I’ve always stepped across,

boxes packed tightly,

stairs hoovered neatly,

with my growing legs,

I trip over each step,

There is no room for growth

How could you not know?

you’re onlt small,

So we will not teach you

just make no mistakes

when the time comes.

“for we did it all, at age thirteen:

8 hours studies, juggling four jobs,

Reading five books, spending hours

outside and we never missed a bedtime”

Yet where did it get you?

And so over time,

I subsided to Procrustes tortures,

Got better at lies,

streched out my arms

Cut off my legs

But your table is always changing

Now I’ve grown up

I made my decisions

But you ask why I struggle with

appearance

Always too short,

Why are you streched ?

That’s not the way

You were meant to expand…

So Miss, when you say

“stop rewriting, it doesn’t have to be

perfect”

I’m just showing my gratitude

for their imperfect love.

in a normal pair of eyes

I can see an ocean

but yours are murky

with the same depth and beauty

hiding the unknown

presenting a dilemma

if I was to swim

would I be at peace?

or be the next

methane-stained disaster?

when it comes to you,

I feel like a ghost.

eager to touch the walls

I seep through

at every attempt.

The struggle

of liking someone you don’t know

is that we’re invisible,

we can only watch

until something real

intervenes with our intangibility

or I have the confidence

to be seen.

Your’re a reflection of me,

brought out by light.

A dark figure pressed to the ground,

different at each angle

and loved in every form.

Stretching and dancing,

never seen in the dark.

I just want to see you,

once the sun sets.

I turn the handle,

as hot as it’ll allow me.

Tracing the curve of my back,

it forced itself upon me.

We became one and for that i am grateful.

I was wishing I could explore

the carefully constructed canals

with corrupted childhood curiosity.

Hair brushed back in thick condition;

a deceiving apple scent with a taste so bitter.

Drip by drip,

limb by limb.

I made my great escape!

the smell of charcoal

does it not remind you of childhood?

fuelled the blaze of twinkled smiles

grilled our laughs into our skin

of flickered joy

as light and whim

on our swinging bench.

These minds still curious

of branch filled paths

and the smell of chopping wood

takes you back

to climbing those fences

into some school playground

how illegal!

But everything tastes better

when its forbidden.

So when we swing there

with stolen gooseberries

a moment lasts forever.

“it meant nothing?”

that’s like saying

when a fisherman

grasps a net with determination,

it was simply for his own enjoyment.

When a comedian

stays up writing

fuelling their jokes with insecurity

it’s simply for the fame.

When an actor

reherses, relentlessly, restlessly, repeatedly

it’s all for the camera.

When a doctor

stays awake

for a twenty-three hour surgery

to save a single life

it’s all for the money.

so I’m sorry for not believeing you,

but as humans,

we only put effort into our passions.

I really dont want to believe

that those hugs,

those kisses,

our laughs,

were all because you felt a little lonley.

~never wanted to be more wrong

Censorship is seemingly a political issue we overcame in the 194o’s ; when wives received letters from their husbands covered in large blocks of marker in order to conceal their filthy secrets. When the war was so glorified that young teenage boys, eager to join the excitement and earn world-acknowledged respect, never lived to see those days of glory. Yet sadly our sources feed us the same amount of lies in modern media. Similarly to everything else, media has developed with quicker, slyer, more subtle methods of sourcing. Bias judgements are being shoved down our throats around every corner. It is vital we all stay informed on political matters to avoid consequences of censorship – taking Brexit as an example.

Though this being a pressing issue, my repetitively offensive Instagram feed is what brought this matter into my attention. One particular morning I noticed a recurring theme of false rape accusation posts on my media. Soon enough I found myself in a digital debate with a victim of such propaganda, which convinced him to believe that this is an issue caused by the feminist movement. Despite false accusations being a serious crime, it is vastly low-scale compared to the genuine assaults that happen to one in every three women. It is not a coincidence that media only cover false accusation stories where men unrightfully get consequence regardless of their innocence. Only 0.05% of rapists are convicted, and then only 5-10% of those convictions are false accusations, so how come the remaining 95.5% of abusers don’t have repercussions for the damage they have caused or at least have exposition on the media?

Another instance of media keeping us in ignorance is at any mention of Islam. The term ‘Jihad’ is used in an uneducated in every article regarding extremism. Lesser Jihad is simply being a part of Islam and a personal journey of the five pillars. Greater Jihad, an excuse extremists make for violence, is also highly misused. This is simply permission for self-defence after all peaceful methods have been exhausted. Media using the general term ‘jihad’ to instil fear is nothing other than uninformed racism in order to wreak havoc and create a social divide.

Censorship is having a terrifying global impact. According to CBS news over 50% of women don’t identify as feminists. Over half of all women don’t believe in equal rights… suspicious, isn’t it? If it was taught that women are discriminated, objectified and abused on a large scale instead of the “femenazi”, “we hate men” depiction the media give us, more than the current 7% of British citizens would identify as feminists. Feminism tackles men’s issues such as fragile masculinity and public display of emotion, however a very limited amount of the population is aware of the entire equality movement. We must stay informed to reduce this impact.

How can we avoid ignorance? For individuals I’d suggest research on global topics from several sources and points of view, Later project this knowledge, inform as many people as possible and we will progressively overcome the censorship in our media.