Brundage.

Everyday,
I leave this house parched,
only for my sandals to be met
by the same arid ground
our ancestors regretted,
due to the presence of
this spiritless land.

I take it step by step
because my son cannot.
He is landlocked inside
a cage neighbors call his
lungs, but I call
his demons.

They brutally feast on him
until he has no more clean air
and his ribcage juts out,
even in the night,
like some freakshow glow
in the dark contraption.

This is not my home;
and mama always reminded me
home is where the heart is,
but somehow I compromised
my heart for a shot
at living.

-

Bodies mingle in hot sweat.
The desert is not a wonder to the
eye when I can't find its end,
and my neck is suffocated by
musty breaths
who never feed me nourishment.
They throw pennies
and I can promise you that
they add up.

(don't they?)

-

My son is splinters.

I am too useless to pull him
away from this, so I bury my life
behind the blankets we use for
curtains, and let him hurt me
with his look,

his hungry, hungry look.

(Daddy isn't here, darling,
he allowed himself to be taken.
Don't go searching for him
in the stars anymore, love.
I don't think he will light up
for us anymore.)

I rarely give my words to him
now, too haunted that he
will depend solely on them,

yet yesterday I asked him,
"what should I do?"

And he replied, "try, mama,
but don't try everything
just for me"....

-
Written 7/18/13 @ 8 PM
Brundage, Texas is one of the poorest cities in the U.S. and it said on Wikipedia, 100% of the population lives below the poverty line.

My inspiration for this was the song "What Would You Do" by City High. Been listening to Bastille's cover of the song and it's so powerful, chilling and emotional. I wanted to convey that in a poem about a mother trying to provide for her son and having to resort to giving her body to a stranger. I really suggest listening to either the original or the cover, both are incredibly thought-provoking and very sad, putting you in the shoes of this poor woman yet also raising the answer to get up and do something with your life to change it.