Destructors

the kids in Manchester square

all laugh and scoff

at Julia Foolia, they paint

too-black mustaches and

Mom tattoos on her

fair canvas skin

 

they gloat with glee

at the woman they see

ill stricken from polio

her faded pastel corset

outdated and choking

it's just for s***s and giggles

for the kids who stopped to see

 

little Collin Jacobs

a year everyone's senior

thought it funny to set her ablaze

to watch her warp and bubble

these broken children of Manchester City

stare blankly into their past

like after London caught fire