these exhausted neighborhoods
pump the stagnant, mildewy pungency
of their hard knocks and bitter losses
down the noses and throats of their observers,
stinging our lungs and watering our eyes
filth-encrusted duplexes tilt to one side,
shingles stripped away, front porches rotted out,
while chained, emaciated rottweilers snarl
at the bastard children with unwashed hair
playing tag and kickball, unsupervised,
in shady alleys strewn with broken glass
I can’t distract my horrified stare as I drive past
on my way to school or the video store,
my heart teeming with pity for these poor souls
who never have and never will come by
the opportunities laid across my middle-class lap,
and I'll later return to my five-bedroom house
comfortably nestled among apple and pear trees
Wendy Lloyd
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/these-exhausted-neighborhoods/
