Our kids don’t know poverty.
Not like we did.
When we had our babies,
I stayed home with them.
Besides, by the time we had 3, or 4,
my working was not cost effective anymore.
When we had our babies,
government decided
to downsize middle managers,
so sometimes you were home with us,
and still, somehow, we survived.
When we had babies,
I used cloth diapers,
and hung them out on the line to dry.
One summer, the gas company shut us off,
we had no hot water for weeks.
Our kids don’t know poverty,
Not like we did.
They have nice houses,
new furniture,
They don’t have wealth,
but they don’t go without,
or have to use food stamps
at a local store.
They don’t know the shame
of standing in line
to get that free government cheese,
They don’t know having to take a bus
to go downtown to pay a bill,
and I wonder what they will ever do
if hard times come to call,
or if they will know how to find the joy,
while making it through it all.
cfblack 10-06-2018
There is so much I want to say,
like name-calling,
being whistled at as I walked down the street,
asked if I wanted a baby.
I liked to walk.
Until a man
exposed himself to me, from his car,
asking me for directions.
I was terrified and ran for blocks,
until I saw him following me.
then walked up to a house and rang the bell,
as if that was my destination.
Heart beating in my chest,
thanking God someone was home.
We get the picture, Mr. Kavanaugh.
You and your friends,
laughing through college,
bragging, cavorting, falling down drunk,
clueless, relentless, taking advantage,
not once thinking these party days
could return to haunt you.
You have a lot of ghosts in your closet, Sir,
They have all the time in the world.
cfblack 10-01-2018
Doctor Grandma 