Steamy showers soothe the skin

leave a tingling sensation

a warm towel wrapped around the body

drys off the water that was left

fresh crisp clothes ripped on ripped off 

in the mornings

when we go to bed

and sometimes in between

breafast when we wake up

lunch during the day

supper when we return home

on the couch we lay

watch a show

fight for the remote

a house too cold we turn up the heat

wrap ourselves in fuzzy sheets

and if it’s hot

crank the A/C

jump in a pool

drink some iced tea

why walk when you can drive

push the gas if you want to fly

brake when you must stop

heaven forbid you get a red light

our pencil gets too short for the comfort

of our uncalloused hands 

pitch it

with the snug clothes

that scream out our flaws

the half-eaten hot dog

that’s a day old

the old books

with the old words

that no longer seem to please our eye

pitch it with the dirty shoes

the frayed ribbon

that once adorned our hair

the gifts we didn’t really ask for

pitch it with the outcast

the ones on the streets

the ones we look away from

temporarily blinded to their lives

pitch it like the millions

the millions in the furnace

gassed to death

because they don’t belong

their names don’t even deserve a capital letter

pitch them

pitch them with their hopes

of a meal that day

of a bed

screw sheets

of not having their prison number on the list

of the next ones to die

not a name

a number

you’re not allowed to cry

pitch it with the child who cannot go to school

his hands aren’t meant for writing

but working like a tool

knowledge is no gift

it’s a curse you see

not a blessing but a stressing

to you and him and me

pitch it with the others

the ones who can’t believe

are forced to a religion

worship with every fiber of their being

when they don’t want to

at all

well, we must sit on a hard pew

let our minds drift to other things

and finally, it’s done

go back to being me

the internet is slow

medieval torture was too

the wifi connections weak

just as the starving child

the waters too warm to drink; not refreshing enough

too dizzy to see straight, some lick at steam

her shoes are the bomb, I want a pair, too

have the boots that bomb just blew off the soldiers feet

but they aren’t designer

pitch them