hell

 
the oppression of the place fell down on me like lead
everyone walked hunched over closer to the sidewalk
the alleys stank of beer and piss  
and the apartment courtyard was cloying with the mingling scents
roaches scurried along the place
 
there were soldiers of a sort there
gang members who bullied through the demons attending the despair
it oozed from the place like an open sore
 
everyone was high it was the only way to survive the poverty
we didn't eat all day
nighttime we pooled together to make a meal
 
it wasn't homeless but the rundown place was close
it screamed from the heaviness of being
the walls of the tenement could barely contain the pain
 
I tried to be some comfort
a bright spot in an otherwise dreadful existence
we all slept on the carpet  
ten of us in a one bedroom apartment
 
people ask me why I fear?
 
why I stay with a man I don't always love?
 
I was traumatized at an early age
I am reckless and don't know how to keep my life on track
I don't ever want to go back to those days
but they breathe down my back
teeth snarling just waiting for another bite of me
 
I know hunger, I know desperation
if you've been to hell
you'd do anything  
to not go back there