Bag Of Dirty Tricks Poem by Robin Bennett

Leaving room for no one else-
a daughter sober and dead dry
split rural Iowa-
at the tender age of fourteen

Thumbing her way
cross country
searching for-
anything
anyone
she found out real quick
life on the streets
was as cruel as home-

Only difference was-
the dirty freedom
She now owned by default
Forced by fate-
to embrace street life

Filthy motel rooms
her temporary refuge
for a cheap price-
she sold her soul and body
anything to climb out
of this living hell
nameless faces-
known as disgust

Big girl freedoms
carried by a scared
little girl-
tired of the foul
stains of life
her young body
wasted away
exhausted-
from the hand she was dealt
she died trying to leave Las Vegas-