THE HARDENED CRIMINAL BECOMES YOUR FRIEND #poetry by jay

Years end on new/ as the holiday descends
into an assault on the many/ and a prophecy 
for the smiling claims that lace the airwaves

the hardened criminal becomes your friend
and/ I once saw a reflection of light/ leading into

a millennium promised anew
a fresh-take for the starved
fragile— already broken

to fend off the inevitable descent
into hell/ we strove for change
as it was past due

a pay-up to exchange the
forced poverty and blood-sucking
rich on poor/ on not poor/ but
now poor—

it never ends.

©Jay Mora-Shihadeh

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash