A MURAL OF FACES: unseen nor unheard. You bleed, I bleed, we bleed, they bleed. Prosperity, like death, ain't guaranteed. Greed and corruption succeed—it's all we read. After our grandfathers broke free from the white man's creed, Sons axe mothers, our sisters innocent and bare, Bargained by their godfathers, with no one to care. The streets surveil, the broke condone; Sex, a stepping stone to climb the social throne. Backs, like our chained spirits, crack under the weight, Meager wages, poor working conditions—a life of constant debate. We've got mouths to feed, bills to concede; Expectations strangle like a rope trussed to our needy. Reality demeans like meager checks; Fathers and mothers dawdle, golden years wrecked. Love's consumed like pension money—meant to invest In children's careers, but now it's just a nest. There she goes—only Lord knows, Jane, my high school crush, pimped her body like a canvas, Painted in a rush, her breasts and ass billow Like bombastic balloons, no doubt stuffed with silicones. Her father, like electricity, is never around; Dreams, like a bastard prince, are never crowned. Mother once abused and overused, Now hypnotized, traumatized and desensitized To her daughter, unbound—left with broken parents, strangled. Abandonment, like a bottle of champagne, she's club-bound; Another wasted soul, bitter fruits of a neglected society. Fettered to a disoriented community, we're born to enroll, Everyday dramas—curtain raisers to battles in corporate arenas. Nepotism and corruption, like oats and milk in a bowl, We're forced to drink, to swallow, to conform To a system designed to keep us in the storm. ARLINGTON_FARIKAI_KADENHA