another voice not heard

I don’t need a research paper

Or scientific evidence

When it’s so painfully evident

That this is not the country to be a poor man

Financial distress in the eyes of so many equates to incompetence

Laziness

Regardless of how far it is from the truth

Exactly who in the f**k are you?

To judge…

A victim of circumstance and a bad decision or two

Stuck in a downward spiral and too proud to ask for any help from you

You taught me to keep my chin up even if my face masked tears and despair

You taught me to clutch to my pride

At any cost…

Starvation is a cheap price to save face and keep pride

Sleeping in a truck

Occasionally in a shittier hotel than you even knew existed

Freshly 30 years old questioning the worth of my own existence

Based off of what?

A façade that we like to call the American dream

But a recession hit my generation

I am not the only one who is failing to succeed

School three times

Studying hard and busting my a*s

Working til my hands can’t hold a tool any longer…

Making just enough cash

To be broke

To not advance

To live a life less significant than my parents’

Home ownership?

A distant dream… I’m just trying to pay my phone bill

Haven’t had power in two months

Lot rent is 4 months past due

Do you know how hard it is to focus on studying when your financial circumstance is a constant burden to you?

Do you know how hard it is to hide the pain…the shame… the regret.. the guilt…

Do you know what it’s like to walk into a fire and pray to die a hero’s death… get killed

Just to escape from the pain of what seems to be a long road of failure

Every success played down by another hurdle too big

How can I even fathom being a father

When I still have the income of a f*****g teenage kid?

Where’s the quality wages for a job well done?

How will I explain why we had to live in poverty to my son?

Or my daughter..

I fought her…

But it turns out life is a b***h.

So as you watch your fox news on your 60’ flat screen tv

I have no doubt that you won’t devote a single thought to the millions like me

And as you lay down on your king size bed…

Not a moment will the memory of me race through your head..

But no worries…

Don’t worry…

For one night I’ve got air conditioning and a cozy bed…

These two empty packages of ramen are the evidence that I’ve been fed. .

So sweet dreams in your three bedroom house in the burbs..

I’ll be here.. at this s****y hotel…

Another voice from the real world to never be heard.