Traffick
12:44 a.m.
Hollowed-out eyes
Rimmed with kohl
Set deep in sunken faces.
Tracks down faces and up arms
Visible under flickering halogen bulbs.
Dark cars creep by,
Distorted light reflections
glinting off black metal
Stopping by each person
Until the unsuspecting are
forced into vehicles.
1:18 a.m.
Money and drugs are exchanged
Before driving to a cash-only motel
Where favors from bodies become the currency.
The analog in the car changed to 2:23 a.m.
$200 for an hour
Tucked in the back pocket of worn Levi’s
An average pull at 16.
A lit cigarette
placed between smears of #213 Red Rose
Guided her back to a cold cement patch
With the word “Home” etched in faded chalk.
States away, a “Missing” flyer
bearing her face
rustled in the wind.
“Please help” screamed the flyer
in Ellis Bold font.
Copyright © Maddie Ainsworth | Year Posted 2017
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