She runs her hand along the black
black
black of daddy’s back nearly broke
working long hours, two jobs.

Four times a day, public transits for fifty cents
cents
Since he barely knows how he’ll make rent

To tell his wife or not. And got to fix two broken posts,
a dog broke some of the fence
fence
Fenced off of loans, No wealth to inherit,
No safety net.
Safety net? Debt growing high
high
Hi my mama says to the man, the banker who decides not to approve their loan
After seeing credit so low, tells her not to
bother without a cosigner, So they go back
back
backdoor is open, lock is broken.

This place where they ‘live, laugh, love’ is where the mother
Cries and prays. She watches her mother
mother
Mother and father pull up their bootstraps tied down by red lines
Girl listens to the banker say as we leave, if you just work hard you’ll be okay.
Okay? Don’t be lazy, that’s why people have no money.
That’s why.

His next client walks in, a white man and his co‐signer father.
Girl looks at his daughter
at recess the next day. They play and clap their hands, Miss Mary Mack
Mack
Maximize your profits
Profits
Profits and minimize your losses
Losses
Losses.
Friend will say to her when she is older. But the math only makes sense when it makes cents.

And when she comes to play at girl’s house, she’ll look at the mold,
The broken fence, and ask, Why don’t your parents just fix this?
And girl will look around and say,
Why don’t your parents just fix this?