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Look At The Bums

February 19, 2016 Section 8 Squad ART, Poetry 3

Poetry by Mikel K ϖ Art by Jessica Hess

Look at the bums,

here another one comes;

last week maybe he had

a job in a factory,

but they downsized.

CEO got a bonus

for thinking that way;

everybody, especially

the stockholders, thinks

that he s a great man

eats off a ten thousand dollar plate

at the White House,

shakes the right hands.

Here comes a bum,

got a tear in his eye,

I immediately criticize,

say that he is a crack addict

who will want a quarter from me.

He asks for money for food.

Why don t you get a job?

Why don t you get a job,

like me?

See, you and me

we’re living in the land

of opportunity.

Oh no,

I just lost my job.

I got it made

I got a slab of ribs cooking

at three hundred in the oven.

I got a whole chicken waiting

in the wings.

I got cashews.

I got bread and bologna.

There is half a tank of gas

in the old beat up car

that I drive.

I just drank a milk.

I’ve got it made.

Freedom Was A Whore

Freedom was a whore.

I abused her.

I misused her.

I confused her

with something else.

I neglected her.

I bet that she would

be there for me

for forever.

Freedom just walked away.

Who is crazy?

Besides you and me?

Some guy, wearing a cowboy hat
and a beard, who is some higher up
in the Trump campaign, just said that
poor people have it made; that they
were richer than the rich a hundred
years ago. I don’t have it made and

neither does he. Nobody does.

We all have our crosses to bear.

And So We Fell In Love

And so we fell in love.
And now we fall out of
Love.
Is this the only love
I will ever know?
I WAS JEALOUS.
I SCREAMED AT YOU.
I TOLD YOU WHO TO SEE,
AND WHAT TO WEAR.
I am just a pained beast
With tears in my eyes
Screaming out at what
I don’t know.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Jessica Hess now lives and works in San Francisco, California where she enjoys documenting the street art scene by painting highly realistic graffiti-laden landscapes. Hess’ paintings pay homage to the growing street art movement while also preserving these otherwise fleeting works. See more Jessica Hess art at jessicahess.com

Mikel K is a poet and memoirist living in Atlanta, Ga. K was voted best Atlanta Poet, the last three years in a row, by readers of Creative Loafing, Atlanta’s weekly newspaper. He has a BS in English with a minor in Journalism from Georgia State University.

You can buy a book by Mikel K at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mikelkpoet