and salts the icy cobbles in her yard.
A ruddy smile that warms you as you go,
a nod to meet your eye with good regard.
Her youngest daughter lives on high-rise hill,
where vigilantes keep patrol in pairs
and vacant tenants, having time to kill,
discard their spent syringes on the stairs.
Her PS2 lets out a battle-cry.
The blade is raised again to do its harm.
Another long sleeved day in paradise –
a calendar of cuts upon her arm.
She’ll talk about her dates to friends who know
she needs to sweep her early morning snow.
(Cocaine is also known as coke, charlie, C, white, Percy or snow.)
Hear this poem