Friday, November 21, 2008

Poetry: "18 Children" A work in progress

Poetry:  "18 Children" [A work in progress] Based on a real family I heard about

                 Eighteen children living in a shack
                 Their father's a drunk, their mother's on her back
                  None saw a dentist, so they all had plaque
                  Once teeth rot they never do come back
                  Their waste [was] thrown out a window, it landed in a stack

                  Eighteen children in the woods of Maine
                  Their mother's on her back, their father wields a cane
                   There's little more to eat than leftover grain
                   In the cold of winter they feel a lot of pain
                   The roof it always leaks whenever it does rain
                   Their overalls have an awful lot of stains
                   They may have even starved if rodents were not slain

                   Eighteen children living in the cold
                   Their mother's on her back, their father is a scold
                    Huddling together, for warmth they had to hold

                    Eighteen children sleeping on the floor
                    Their mother's on her back, their father often swore
                    Huddled altogether near a drafty door
                    Covered with a tattered coat 'cuz they were so damned poor
                     Their father was oblivious and he liked to snore
                     In the early morning the cold it made then sore

                     Eighteen children wading through the snow
                     Their mother's on her back, their father is their foe
                     How did they survive when they lacked a lot of dough?
                      They often did go hungry with little food to grow

                      Eighteen children lacking enough food
                      Their parents could use birth control,
                       But they had a giant brood.

                      Eighteen children in the frigid weather
                       They really could have froze to death,
                        But they were tough as leather... (tbc?)
         

     
    

                
                    

             

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