ROUNDSIXTEEN

A whole generation of kids
Coming of age with
Less than two parents
Behind them or more
Than three in front.

Unsure of who’s who,
Or what to call them,
Or whether to allow
Them into their room,
Or refuse their advance.

And then the one parent
Relied upon all of their
Lives decides for them,
And one stranger leaves
As another danger arrives.

And the arguments go on,
And the cycle repeats,
And suddenly school is reduced
To a few seconds’ thought
Between bouts,

And the object that
Remains once the bell has
Begun is the pummeled
Mass of an adult who has
Been rung out before the count.