Jennifer E. Hudgens

Raising Wild Boars

Mama told me once that my great aunt
dressed her kids in potato sacks,
chained them up in the back yard and fed ‘em dog food.

Auntie Jane treated her like a princess.

Mama was confused when her
father sold his own children born
of incest like black market commodities.

Tightened the noose around mama’s
neck,
it was the only way he could
find redemption,
killing a seed that would grow in
the dark.

Beloved by broken things,
China doll daughters that would panhandle
for a mother’s love in any bedroom that would listen.

A son met with a song,
chords demons wrapped inside angry, drunken fists,
searching for his own chance at heaven,
redemption.

A god that often forgot,
dirty,
wild creatures like us,
still exist.

 

Jennifer E. Hudgens originally from Oklahoma, has been published in some stuff. She is terrified of clowns but loves carnival rides. She thinks life is a poem as long as you’re paying attention.