these females drivin me crazy
with too many problems
the men on the floor turned into
shadows
while the women held court on the hallway
floor, pillows and all
swapping stories about how to
fend off thieves in the night, at the shelters;
with a bar of soap in your pillow-case.
last night i gave nadine the most beautiful pillow-case
with embossed white stripes
i thought she'd like it.
something beautiful in that stinking place
the sharpness of the disinfectant only masking
the smell of shit..ever present.
she told me she cries every day
about having hiv, which she got from a dirty tattoo needle
her kids don't know, but her old man says
give it to me because i wanna die with you mamma
she runs around the unit with her tranny sister juliet
and they share xanex and talk
about their secrets in spanish.
(names changed to protect the innocents)