9/21
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Tashia

I told my son we're going camping--and we were--
tenting in an unused parking lot--
a blue tarp village plopped down in the burbs.
It ain't much but then it's all we got.
We lost the house a couple months ago.
I lost my job a few months before that.
Finally there was nowhere else to go.

I watch my baby read.  The Cat in the Hat.
Next year he starts school  What do I say
when they ask me my address?  Nicklesville?
What if his new friends want to come and play
at our "house"?
                             At last the night is still.
Sleep my son.  Dream your American dreams
as mommy's life unravels at the seams.