Marie

My sister's baby was born half size and deaf to her own cries, and I did mean to criticize, she wasn't getting proper care.

My sister didn't eat and the baby didn't drink.

Living in a hotel room that barely had a sink.

I didn't know what to think,  

with beauty stripped naked on the floor,

and she could still be there.

Barely breathing through cigarette air

in Carson City, the capitol of capitalism.

Where fat old men inquire into good fortunes 

and ailing wives in casino bathrooms. 

Where desperation rests heavy and sick sweet on conditioned air. 

If it has anything to do with winning you won't find it here.