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Barren Walls

Lynn Hughes

Their thoughts were rapid fire weapons,
shouting out “trailer trash!” as they went by.
How could they have a clue what it was like?
Cohabitation in an 8 by 46 box
isn’t conducive to coalescence,
but rather to uncivil cruelty.
The baby cries in hunger,
the woman shouts in anger because she can.
He goes off to work each day
to earn his minimum wage.
Just how far can you stretch a food stamp?
and how much being looked down on can you take
before you are what they think?
How long can you stare at those barren walls,
barely getting by,
before you drown in the bottle
or fade into your cloud of haze,
or come out fighting,
shooting down each other’s dreams?
Contempt breeds ignorance
so why would you bring offspring
into the illiteracy of this life?
Like pups lapping at their mother’s tit,
you latch on to existence,
clinging to the lifeline of your hopes
and your teenage ideology.
How long can your heart go on
when it’s squeezed in the vise
of this life’s inequities?

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