Charles Anthony Hood

It’s too dark to see anything. My mouth is a desert. My tongue is a reptile. I wipe my sweaty palms… On my pant legs to dry them. I have a lump the size of a watermelon… In my throat—and it hurts too. I’m weak in the knees. I have a knot in the pit of my stomach. Fear is the biggest enemy we’ll face.   Slinking away from challenges, A coward is a perpetual loser— Too afraid to fail or make a mistake— A fragile ego waiting for a sure thing, But a sure thing never comes. So, the coward waits in the shadows: Until the party is over and the laughter fades. The loser has lost once again, Too afraid to shine and be something… Greater than anything before.   But we are not losers! We are overcomers! We meet challenges head on! We are champions! We continue to move forward, Despite huge obstacles… Despite seeming impossibilities… Despite the opinions of others… Nothing will conquer us, Because we have conquered ourselves! ...

Failure is a learning opportunity, Not something to be feared. Success often follows failure. Keep sight of your goals and dreams: Your success is just around the corner.   Sometimes people fear failure or rejection. If you have never failed, you haven’t tried. If you have never been rejected, you haven’t… Put your heart out there for others to love you. Walking into the unknown brings surprises.   Fear not the unknown surprises, For they are often pleasant. Fear of the unknown… Is often an impediment for many, But the unknown, however, is unavoidable.   The great unknown… What if this or that happens? Many would stay in a rut for life, As opposed to facing the unknown… Courageously with fire in their eyes!   We all do what we can… To live the life we’re given. Sometimes it takes time… To help us learn life’s lessons. We must pay attention!   Time ticks quickly by, Leaving behind those who… Fail to...

  Motivate yourself to succeed. Say, “I can do it. I know I can.” Do you believe it? I know there is something… Remarkable about you.   There is something about you… That keeps you in my dreams. I want you to know I think your… Soul is beautiful and warm. How can I tell you I love you?   Would you ever tell me… That you love me too? You’re out of my league. I am not unaware of that. I’ll treat you like royalty.   My counselor says I’m insecure. I have an inferiority complex. I set others above me, Hold them in higher regard… Than I hold myself.

I scream into the darkness, but… My plea echoes and dissipates. I claw at my itchy skin until it bleeds. A nauseating odor lingers in the air. Where am I, and how did I get here?   The last thing I remember… I boarded the crosstown train. A stranger boarded at the next stop and… Entered the car in which I was travelling. I was comfortable, so I fell asleep.   I dreamed I was poked with a shot; However, upon consideration of my… Current situation, I may not have been… Dreaming—half awake and half asleep. Why would anyone kidnap me?   I believe I am being held in a basement. The air smells of mildew and fabric softener. My eyes adjust to the darkness. A sliver of light is a laser beam… Cutting through the thick darkness.   I can see a little more now… Than I could before. There is a staircase leading up to… A padlocked door—I’m trapped! Keep calm and think clearly.   The door opens. A rotund man stands...

I am many things beyond my gender. There is more to me than my skin color. I have had my share of trials and tribulations.   I endured an abusive home as a child. My mother had no mercy… Daily beatings were a norm in my childhood.   I took my ideas of morality from… Pieced together notions from the Holy Bible and… The cult in which I was raised.   I believed my cult family had absolute truth. I was encouraged to hate the world, and… Love my cult—nothing was taught about self-love.   I treated the other children at school disdainfully, Because I thought they were abominations unto God. I hated them because I thought God hated them.   Brainwashed to believe a lie and beaten each day, Anger festered in my soul like an infection. I loved no one, not even myself.   After enduring a dysfunctional home life, I became a dysfunctional man. I didn’t know myself.   In my family, Ignorance is normal, Bu...

  Before this organization crumbles… Let’s straighten it out and get it running smoothly. There were improprieties under… The old management administration. Now, the money will freely flow in,   Because we’ll get this organization… In tip top shape before the beginning of… The next quarter—time for new successes. What if life is a cosmic joke or game... That we needn’t fear or dread?   That would make life a fun game… A fun situation into which we are born… And wealth is the point system. Whomever collects the most points, Will be honored for a time.   We must play the game to win… Life’s prizes: health, wealth, and good fortune. Why must life be hard? Or is it only hard if we perceive it to be so? Nothing is black and white…   Is reality relative to the perception of the… Individual—whom is in control? But from where does it come… The drive and spirit to succeed and achieve? Living but once is its own mot...

  I thought you were good for me, But things turned ugly. You said some hurtful things… And so did I. I’ll not claim innocence… It was both of us… We hurt each other.   There was a time when… Nothing would stop you from… Romancing me and kissing my lips. Now, we barely talk— We hardly ever do anything fun anymore. There is nothing worse than… Dishonesty.   Let’s be honest with each other… And with ourselves. Do you still love me? Sometimes it feels like… The answer is no. You’re distant. I miss the man I first met…   Long ago. I gave you my number… In the grocery store. I saw you there each day. You smiled and called me… Right away. I was in love.   Love hasn’t been easy for me, Nor for you. I know you long for my company… But distance… Separates our hearts. Our souls aren’t intertwined. Distance doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. In a sea of unfamiliar faces, I look for you. I hop...

  Music playing in the background, I sip from my glass of bourbon. Cigar smoke swirls and dissipates. Cameras overhead see all.   Blackjack is always my game, too. I’m sitting pretty with a Jack… And a nine—wonderful nineteen. Two-thousand dollars will be mine!   Slot machines dinging and clinking— Someone hits the jackpot and squeals. Someone else just lost their money. Winners and losers play with hope.   In the casino restaurant, People enjoy their food and drinks. Laughter and chatter fill the air, All worries melted away.   An elderly man and woman… Conversate over cold soft drinks. Their meal arrives steaming, looks good. I wonder how often they win.   There is a much darker side, though. It would be remissive of me… Not to mention gambling addicts: Losing all they have to the house.   A man sits alone—nothing left— Gambled away his house payment. What is he to do after all? “Gamb...