Written for: Sunday Whirl, Wordle #464
Words: stint, chain, score, mean, glow, spent, din, thrumming, chimney, wave, stain
He knew the score,
spent a long stint
with some mean-rep
step-fathers. Still
feels their punches
thrumming in his ears.
One foul-breath meth-
head whacked him
with a chain for trying
to burn up his stash
in the chimney. Mom
laid in bed.
So when he met Lisa,
a girl with
a golden glow
in her dark
brown eyes,
he knew
that glow
would dim
in time, like
an over-washed
shirt. He saw
the bruises
on her arms,
heard the din
from the street
every time
another wave
of abuse
was thrown.
He knew the score.
She would not
have to. He’d make sure.
purplepeninportland 