before the fracture
into glass shards—
the shattering of a lovely
box of mirrors.
Lincoln—an old man in a nursing home,
feasting on chocolate pudding,
wondering if this episode of
Judge Judy would be his last.
Becca—a teenager living in a box
behind the Hot Girlzzz strip club
surviving on garbage
and the change in some guy’s pocket
after a quickie.
Sandy—the middle-age homemaker
addicted to painkillers and Adderall,
just trying to get through
the next school bake sale.
And Sonny especially—the little boy
hiding under the stairs,
pretending he was playing
hide-and-seek
with so-called friends
and not crouching
just beyond the reach
of long arms and scraping fingernails
of the bad man cursing outside
the closet door.
And, of course, Voices.
They need their own homes too.
We become glistening
splinters of light and sound—
Sandy overdoses on heroin
when her doctor cuts her off.
Becca
loses her battle with HIV.
Lincoln’s
heart finally gives out
during Monday night bingo. And Sonny
is lying on the bed
wishing he was dead too.
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