They spread 
   broken wings
in Brick City, another name for the ghetto, 
upstairs fat plaits sit uniform across a young girls head, 
she’s at the window killing daddy in her daydreams 
attacking she takes off with raven like movements 

ruffled
   twisted
below, mommy’s cry rises louder as the wall
fractures under the trauma of her heavy body
daddy is mad so she must double as the weight
of the world on his shoulders - he wants to discard

graceless
   wounded
little brown boys practice on the barren playground 
soaring on rimless courts the miniature Jordans 
ascend to invisible nets that swoosh, 
pretend fans cheer, 
drowning out a mothers scream in the distance

stretched
   fragile 
an ambulance shrieks red through tattered streets 
towards a murderous girl’s warped imagination, 
the boys caged fantasies of fortune and fame, 
and a mother’s final departure to a beaten peace 

flying 
   away.