when Mum put her out on the winnipeg street one too many times
traded her to the curb for a warm man or a hit
sometimes both
Grampa mothered her
took her in
now Gloria's on the cusp of adulthood and still wishing for a mother to mother her
but she's seen enough of this planet now to know Mum is a fuck-up
one who'll never get things right
Dad left the room before Gloria left the womb
ran like ten track stars, leaving her to pack the scars
and the boys she met thought being a man was being the boss
so she took some hits herself
open-handed slaps, and words that hurt like bear traps
only two friends ever really "got" Gloria
Danny got tired of cutting his wrists and switched to swallow too many pills
Chelsea died too but not of choice, unless cancer has the freedom to choose
and Gramma
was almost 70
Gloria heard that the average person lives to 77
the word pulled tears from Gramma's eyes
but was a practice test for when Gramma dies
No comments:
Post a Comment