A tender little angel looks for his mother
in the body of his ten year-old sister
But her tit is too small
and not equip to support him

Tears spring to the old young old sister’s eyes
as they lie on cardboard at dusk
High-heeled women walk around them
like the faceless/upperbodyless ladies do
on old cartoons
only not maternal at all
Not for them

The children use poison to stifle their hunger
and to give them something to look forward to
Men with faces not worth seeing smack them around for
being druggies and they say “it’s my parents fault, it’s my parents fault”
the men say “no, you have a choice”
and I say “no, no they don’t. Not really”

This poem was inspired by Children Underground, a documentary about homeless children living in a subway in Bucharest, Romania. It’s maybe my favorite movie. It sure beats Bride Wars or fucking American Pie: The Reunion. It will make you think, it might make you want to change the world even. This is a film that matters. *The children in the photo are the actual subjects that inspired this poem, their names are Ana and Marian.