I was born
I had a name
I had a mother
I had no choice
At the age of two
I had a father
I had a grandmother
I had a heart
I knew only the love in my mother's eyes
By seven
I was on my own
I was setting my own alarm
I was walking to school
I was getting straight A's
I was throwing away my report card
My mother when I was seven
Had forgotten the love
Life's abuse and cruel pranks
Had left her desolate
Had left her in bed all day
Had left her mumbling
About her demons
In fourth grade
My father, my grandmother
Took me to a home I did not know
They told me not to worry
I was not on my own
A highschool freshman
I was fat with complacency
I was dependent
I was optimistic because the world was mine
I had ability
I had perseverance
I had motivation
To leave my grandmother's cigarettes and poverty behind
My grandmother
She went to jail
She left me
With my father
Who knew only the can in his hand
I was on my own
A wise sophomore
I knew what to do
I had to leave
I had to look out for myself
I entreated upon my cousins
My cousins became my parents
They held me close
They gave me a cross
To hold even closer
They offered me no choice
I was dependent
I got a job
I did a sport
But I had no friends
I had no love to give
No love was given to me
My grandmother
She got out of jail
My parents became my cousins again
My grandmother got rid of her cigarettes
But not the poverty
As a junior adult
I live in a home
That is not mine
I miss people that were never my family
I do not miss people that are my family
I have been broken
But not shattered
I know now that I have been failed
The care that I am obligated to receive
Is based on the whims of those
Who are not obligated
I was never given it
So I must earn it
I am on my own.
