When I needed you most
there you were.

I was just a child,
desperate for love,
hungry for attention.
Should I have asked for more?

The TV was silent,
the power was out.
The fridge held no hope,
just hunger and doubt.

Food stamps for dinner?
No—sold for a high.
We waited in corners
and learned not to cry.

Our clothes torn and tattered,
no shoes on our feet.
They flapped as we walked
through the cold, cracked concrete.

Then,
a knock at the door.

We froze in our place.
Curtains half drawn,
no light on our face.
I watched through the gap,
afraid they would see
the dust, the stillness,
the nothing of me.

Laughter came easy
for children at school.
But not for the ones
raised outside the rules.

You filled your lungs
with a poisonous smoke,
while ours filled with fear,
too young, yet we broke.

I saw you fading
your chest rose no more.
Your eyes stayed open,
but life left unsure.

You chose your escape,
and shut every door.
And left us behind
with you dead on the floor.