guys hanging out on the corner...
wondering who got done this morning
homeless scrapping the streets...
looking for a bite to eat...
Little Tracy
so young and so sweet...
never made it home from school
two men saw her walking alone
down the street...
Working hard for their paychecks...
families in a home with one room...
a refrigerator
and a stove...
Momma in the bathroom
looking to the stars for glimpse of hope...
because
dad got drunk and gave her a bloody nose...
Hitching a ride
in the back seat of a neighbors car...
on their way to the Welfare Office
trying to get a little assistance
only to be told
you need to be BELOW poverty...
there's to much money in your household
Dope dealers cashing in on the profits...
gangs marking their next targets...
Michael
an upstanding youth...
refusing to be a statistic
found floating face down in the city sewage...
Gun shoots in the air...
unmarked bullet screaming
for an unknown name...
an IV needle laced with cocaine...
tucked away quietly in the closet
up a 16 year olds' vein...
Little kids playing in the streets
with no regrets or fear...
unaware of things around them
believing in nothing but their dreams...
While...
women selling their souls for money
trapped like a mouse in a maze...
fighting to make a way out
from these desecrate dark days...
Walking to my heart beat...
not knowing what to expect...
looking to God as I pray
to make it through another day...
(c) 2005 Lacretia Johnson
"Living In the Ghetto"