Life:

Senior students make big plans

to waste their parents money

blue-collar cotton farmers

scrap by to make ends meat

while China mass-produces polyester suits.

Lovely little cottages

tucked away against white frosted treetops

bathing in moonlight and yellow fireflies

a girls first broken heart

never truly heals.

A sad smile creases wrinkled eyes

screaming prayers for her loved one

cursing his name because he left

fifty years of marriage now she’s alone

memories of them in Bay Shore on VHS

black and white photo snapshots

“Oh God,” she cries

six gunshots rip through mornings’ light

a granddaughter clutches to a folded flag

they both see each others pain in their eyes

Life’s a bitch.