She bawled her eyes out over the phone
As her mother was on the other line eating
Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream
Melty like her wings tied back with assorted pastel colored rubber bands
Mother said it could be worst
It could be better
Much better
She tried to fit all of her belongings in a pale blue plastic bag from Walmart but it had too many holes
And her toothbrush and a torn up flip-flop were already poking out
Toothpaste was the only thing that made her feel clean these days
In fact it was keeping her alive
She needed the minty smell
Refreshing taste on her tongue
That tingle on her gums
Since all her teeth had fallen out
And she had been trying to pick them up one by one with broken bruised finger tips
To place back into her holey bag
Only to fall in between
Dropping
Making tiny little pinging sounds as they hit the white & black tile floor
Found
Her kneeling down on the ground looking up at me with a pained smile
The kind that makes your insides pang
While trying to hide her crying eyes
But the eyes reveal everything
And she wasn’t getting away from me this time…

 

Mixed Media by MMM