henrietta smith
at Galveston and Claremont
the corner lot is worth zero.
can’t raise a dime. can’t even sell
the goddamn dirt.
and the house in the center of the dirt yard
is for shit.
built with public finance, the trail of thieves begins.
materials made out of cheap chinese panel wood
and milky white plasterboard,
probably containing the bones and flesh of
animals and missing chinese politicians
poorly built, highly billed to the state.
first the doorbell stopped working
then the plumbing gave out
then the heat and central air tanked, which
was never more than an old sears cooljet case
with no fan, belts or motor,
then the basement caved in – killed the cats
and then the mail stopped coming
the trash stopped being picked up
no more school bus
no more pizza delivery
just the bills stacked up in the hallway
henrietta smith watched it all
from the front porch
then the porch collapsed
killed her dead
♡♡