Shame on Them Hills
Brandie Trent
On these hill roads
are cars
that drive
with parts gone
sold to a man
in a soiled T
for scrap
in the rear
of the shop
These cars drive
loud now
by meth-mouthed men with sweat stains
Men who scout for wire and pipe
behind the house
where the man is gone on a trip for a while
They go past a skank
who lets her fat roll shine
from her tube top
while she shops for cans
in the high grass of the ditch
to cash in
to cure the itch
'Til she can pimp her kid to the doc
for some tooth root work
to get them pills
‘cause she messed up
done whored to a cop
and got locked up
And it is just that bitch
who learns the girl to read and write
who will call D S S to save her from
the dirt of the poor
'cause she knows that the ten bucks she gives the kid for gas
will make her kin not touch her down there for a day or two
but they don’t come with their lights and loud sounds
‘cause they know that crew from up on the ridge
and they ain’t ‘bout to change
Not now
nor then