working for the DEA
purple tiger
smuggled in from
the southwest border
we were runners
we were kids
never paid by the hour
supposed to be home by six
but that was a moving target
—mama didn’t mind
not as long as they keep paying
social worker
stops by every ten days
making sure she’s still clean
october two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
jdubqca 
This breaks my heart.
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