waking thoughts poem
This poem was recently emailed
to Illinois Times anonymously.
I gained the sender’s OK to print
it. I only altered it to fit the form
I use in this space, and took the
liberty to change a few words.
–Jackie Jackson
eight days to go till payday
eight days to go till payday
negative $121 in checking
eight days to go till payday
cable’s turned off; car on empty
eight days to go till payday
five kids to feed five kids who
may not know they’re poor
they’ll soon figure it out
eight days to go till payday
what else can I give up?
what else can I give up?
eight days to go till payday
the weight’s too much
the wait’s too much – there
aren’t any answers no options
no secret passage out of here
eight days to go till payday
tomorrow it’ll just be seven
2012 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2012.
