White backpack girl
Red hearts on the pack
A matching lunch bag sways
From her hands
Walking from the low-income apartments
To the middle school.
Hope is her name
Attacked by dogs at the bus stop
Waiting for the bus to take her to school
Blood. Tears. Walking to the school nurse for help
Nobody was worried about her or the dog
Hope’s grandmother raising her
Grandmother died a few months ago
Who will Take Grace to the doctor?
No Water - in the USA
We don’t even have any water
Oh, it’s been years since we could drink some water here
It’s the leadership
I don’t know if we need new pipes or what, but we don’t have safe water.
No Heat
She doesn’t have heat in her house
It’s below freezing tonight
She sits on the couch under a heating blanket
We got at a Costco for $20
The pair of dogs lying on the floor, breath visible in the air.
This is life without heat.
Crown
I stare at the crown tattoo across his neck
Maybe a gang symbol ... he’s not from here.
Philadelphia
I work two full-time jobs
Pumping gas here and C and D nursery
Yeah, I don’t sleep a lot
I still don’t make the $35 an hour that the flagger makes
I don’t feel sorry for him at all; just standing there with the flag
Curving on Glucose
$498 that is the cost
For the glucose curve study, some blood work and syringes
You’ll come back in two weeks for another glucose curve… and keep coming back until it’s stabilized
I look at the cat
That came with my house
And tell the cashier, I guess I will need to find another job.
Infection
Emergency root canal surgery
That will be $2,100
How would you like to pay
Thinking of all the people who live with constant pain
From roots that span the gums to the eyes
They don’t have $2100 lying around.. at least nobody that I know does.
$500
That’s what it will cost to design a 10-page report about the Training
If you want these numbers designed, it will be more
$1000 for a report
A report that no one might read.
$3896
That’s the cost of 18 Patagonia jackets for the team
This doesn’t include
The $1000 logos
The $250 on shipping
Is it worth it
To remember people?
This is a few days of noticing money, people, and inequities.
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