Right in the middle of the busiest area of the Poconos, the group of condos sit in a large circle. The sky is dark, for it has been hidden from all possible sunlight by the many awnings and porches that join the different housing units. On one side of the condos the neon lights from the bar next door shine through the children’s windows, but the more occupied side the parking lot is lined with fast food restaurants- clumped together and riotous with large families that frequent them, juggling their small children and many diaper bags; and noisy cars speeding past with loud engines, pungent, murky exhaust spewing out of the back and police sirens constantly blaring down the street. In the parking lot encircled by the condos the tenant kids run around full of light yet somehow full of darkness at the same time. The older kids come out of the small houses to sit on the sidewalk in the evening, and the cracked sidewalks are covered with the faded chalk drawings left there by the youngsters earlier in the day, and with the sheets of crumbled up paper containing poetry no one would ever read, and with the old needles and discarded blunts of their parents who had left them there over the course of the day.

There is one unit in particular, a unit with a broken door from the many men who had tried to force their way in, a unit with holes in every wall that were put there by flying fists and thrown objects that had missed their true target- the oldest daughter. In front of the many holes in the their smiles are fake and their hugs are forced.

Why do you harass me?
What did I do to you?
I don't think I deserve this
From Year 8 to now I just kept pushing through

You worked me up quite a bit
Couldn't control myself and I felt like ****
They say try not to let it get to you
But they don't know what it's like to be in my shoes

Take a deep breath and count to ten
I'll be breathing just fine when you swing by your neck
And count to ten? Don't be ridiculous
I'll be counting down if you give me some half-decent explosives

Because I like explosions,
Like the flashing red dots right behind my eyelids
You're my target now, stand centre stage
And see the fear in your eyes as you feel my rage!

I'm telling you I love you
You're not saying a thing
but I ******* love you
I keep finding blood on my sheets
but I ******* love you
And I haven't been sober since
the day you left
I don't think I've been sober since
the day we met
Because whether you're staying or going,
you're always leaving bruises
You're always leaving
Tell me how this game works;
You're the one with bullets for teeth
but I'd do anything to be your target
if it meant you'd call me back
I bled at the boarder of
life and death for you
because I couldn't think of a time without
your violence
I hate you the most on the days that I don't
And I hate that I want you back
I'm still wounded and healing
but I just want you back
I'm telling you I love you
You're not saying a thing
*but  I  *******  love  you