05-16-2017, 01:00 PM
First Edit:
My Friend Back Home
My friend’s face
is dirty with worry.
He says the word
layoff
as if it’s inevitable, like death.
He says he won’t abandon
his home,
and all I can do is nod.
His dream
(a family, a livable wage,
a stable job, and a future
where his children
can have the same
without leaving home-
almost a cliche,
masquerading as common sense,
daring to call itself
his dream)
is trapped
beneath the ground,
slowly suffocating.
His hope
will become a widow,
cursing the mines,
and I,
at a safe distance,
am nothing
but a bystander.
Original:
My Friend Back Home
My friend’s face
is dirty with worry
while he says the word
layoff
as if it’s inevitable like death.
He says he won’t leave
his home,
and all I can do is nod.
His dreams
are trapped
beneath the ground
slowly suffocating,
his hope
will become
a widow,
and I,
at a safe distance,
am nothing
but a bystander.
My Friend Back Home
My friend’s face
is dirty with worry.
He says the word
layoff
as if it’s inevitable, like death.
He says he won’t abandon
his home,
and all I can do is nod.
His dream
(a family, a livable wage,
a stable job, and a future
where his children
can have the same
without leaving home-
almost a cliche,
masquerading as common sense,
daring to call itself
his dream)
is trapped
beneath the ground,
slowly suffocating.
His hope
will become a widow,
cursing the mines,
and I,
at a safe distance,
am nothing
but a bystander.
Original:
My Friend Back Home
My friend’s face
is dirty with worry
while he says the word
layoff
as if it’s inevitable like death.
He says he won’t leave
his home,
and all I can do is nod.
His dreams
are trapped
beneath the ground
slowly suffocating,
his hope
will become
a widow,
and I,
at a safe distance,
am nothing
but a bystander.