The weight of a word is found in
Your fingerprint
No scale can tell you if
Your house is your home
Or how to feed your poetry
An old man says
"The babies don't have food"
So you try to count the lines around
His eyes
To tally up his shame
But he's too water-stained
And you can't bear to look

A little girl cries
"I like you!"
Pulling your hair and raking hers
Too young to know
She'll destroy her body for
A piece of mind she'll never get

A young man says
"I should be able to get out of here"
Wishing to pick his identity off
Like rotted bark
To start over
But he can't find
Where his skin starts