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Monday, October 14, 2013

Growing up poor 1 (31-HP Day 15)

Trailer park
Mixed neighborhood
Condemned houses
Father blackballed from job
Forced into business
Cheated by partner
All lost, all gone
No escape from poverty

One heater only
Three boys one room
Five girls other room
My mattress on the floor
A few scattered toys
Books read a dozen times
Canning stored in crawlspace
Vegetable garden in the yard

Food stamps
Government cheese
School breakfasts
Kindness of strangers
Gaunt and shy
Too short for my age
Bad teeth
Bad headaches

Harsh truths
Learned too soon
Always worried
Always hungry
No Santa Claus
No Easter Bunny
Sacrificing self
For the good of others

Then you wonder
Why I sympathize
Why I fight
Why I associate
With the downtrodden
You forget where I came from
I am one of the poor
Still in the back of my mind
at

9 comments:

  1. DebOctober 15, 2013 at 12:00 AM

    Harsh truths learned too soon...My favorite line.

    ReplyDelete
  2. fiona macleanOctober 15, 2013 at 12:42 AM

    good writing, pleased to stumble upon this

    ReplyDelete
  3. NateOctober 15, 2013 at 1:10 AM

    The truth will definitely set you free. You look for it, expect it and it will show up in your life when you need it to.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownOctober 15, 2013 at 1:42 AM

    Having had a poor childhood is a powerful story. In my experience, believing this story kept me in a place of poverty in certain ways.Strangly, but true it was a safe place for me and a way of showing my love to my family.I can relate to have a heart for people who are underdogs in our societies. I am really happy now, that I don´t see a problem anymore in it, but countless solutions by feeling connected to everybody, no matter what their bank-account tells...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sophie BownsOctober 15, 2013 at 4:45 AM

    You have a great writing style and this is very powerful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. KGOctober 15, 2013 at 9:11 AM

    What an amazing poem..!
    Gave me chils...

    xoxo,
    KG
    www.kgstyleblogs.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousOctober 15, 2013 at 5:14 PM

    A beautiful and honest poem. I feel your story and I can see a little boy in my minds eye when I read it, that's what makes it so powerful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A Creative ResearcherOctober 15, 2013 at 6:01 PM

    Very graphic, I can actually see a picture of your experiences in my mind. Sharon Joseph

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousOctober 15, 2013 at 6:47 PM

    great style of expression. well expressed harsh realities of life

    ReplyDelete

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