poverty is a rabbit cage

and dead carcasses
when food is scarce
the front yard tells part of the story
what is collected in scrap metal
and used tires
makes a grown man weep
if the newscaster and police insist on shame
make it something to be shared
this city has a long history
of ignoring pain
with renaissance projects
urban renewals
hand-outs to those most able
to buy a politician's ear

a man needed a meal

and thought he could pull himself up
out of the west end valley
appalachian rock fall
selling and eating rabbits and chickens
scrounging enough to spice up his
convenience store lunch table
with beef jerky

as the police yanked him into the cruiser

with a blanket draped over his head
     a murderer they said
the dead and near-dead animals desperate
beyond their cages
joining a collective scream

for a country buried in its own feces

--- e b bortz