Inner-city lovers

Home of the used and the duped;

victims of fear and charity;

people moving no where

except from kitchen to handouts

through the largess of the caring-in-flight

the "Them" standing 'gainst the "them"

to help "them" stay in houses once fled

 groaned o'er as a dead memory of love

I hate Inner-city lovers.

I loathe the cages of the strong,

their "treat-them-with-dignity" smiling

their gifts set as cheese on a trap.

Who sees a face without tax breaks?

Who sniffs the balm of the poorly wiped butt?

Who knows hollow eyes from the inside?

Inner-city scapegoats are coaxed to the slaughter

and die waiting for the system to set them free

their hues confining them

binding them the wrong side of right

ever expanding, their tones rattling the suburbs.

I hate the Inner-city lovers.

I loath the cages of the strong.

*When you care what other people think, chose your own jailers carefully.

  -from a homily at an artists workshop

*All ministry is prison ministry.

 -Jerry Schroeder

*Believing is seeing and we see with our feet.

 -Anonymous

*Although the truth may hurt, it is still the truth.

 -common wisdom