Another Sunrise in The Ghetto

I was born here
a place worthy of demolition
the high rises block the sun
reaching for the sky but blocking nourishment
(I never saw grass grow)
Another sunrise I couldn't see
I saw the glass reflect but
I've never seen the stars
I've seen the bedraggled looks
of the ordinary people here
sometimes it's sadness, sometimes fear
the rent was due yesterday and I am a dollar short
I worked over time and I still need a cash advance
their tired feet trudge over to the cash checking place
trading the future for now
those interests rates are just as bad
as any slave master, no mercy for the indebted
the children wait for the school bus
all bravado and stoicism
some have ignorance as a mask
some throw around expletives
and others stand in silence
their books are sub- par
and their schools are older
than the schools across town
out of ten, statistically, only 4 will graduate
from High School Broken
beer bottles on the curb
and the homeless man pleads
it's a cacophony, and I cant feign deafness
I hear their pleas I hear their cries
I can't walk away but I must, if I want to help them