This one is for the kids

with no more hope 

No more purpose 

Broken smiles 

Shattered teeth 

 

The kids who fall short of their dreams so closely 

they scrape them with their fingertips 

 

The kids that fill their mouths 

with the words of others

because they can never find the right ones

for themselves 

 

For the ones 

Who have been used and abused 

but don’t even know it 

 

This poem is for my kids in the back 

who use 

poetry as armor 

stories as a shield 

and dreams as a golden steed 

 

For the ones who cry themselves to sleep every night 

 

and have been brought up with false promises

 

 

 

To the kids that just need one sign not to end it tonight 

 

 

This is for you