Not quite a woman
but carries the burden of a mother
brick laden
knock-kneed
and hunchbacked
age 8
She is gray-haired
gray faced
showered with
brick dust that settles
in the fault lines
of her brow
Her emphysemic breath
chugs like an old
train running on
coal dust
as she carries
her fourth load, fifth load,
sixth
Her home is
four brick-stacked
walls without mortar
held together solely
by inertia topped
by aluminum paneling
topped by discarded garbage
and old tires
She is too burdened
to wipe the sweat, dust,
and mud from her
bleary eyes, so
she squints half blind
Her path is tread
by a memory ingrained
deeply into her destiny
Posted By Katerina Canyon (CONCERN)
Posted Sep 3rd, 2014