The Toughest Of Lives Poem by Ray Hansell

She works in the night time
Walking the stroll
Hour after hour
Time taking it's toll

Looking for men
Who are lonely and blue
Probably some men
Just like me and you

Trying to make money
Just to make ends meet
Walking each night
On her tired and hurting feet

The minutes get closer
As her high wears off
She nervously plays
With her necklace and cross

Though she gave up on religion
In her younger years
She falls back on it now and then
Wrapped up in a life filled with fears

She's afraid of her customers
The one's people call johns
Knowing at anytime
One of them could do her harm

But night after night
There she will be
Walking the streets
From the life she can't flee

Long ago her dreams all faded
From grey and then to black
Knowing in her soul
Her dreams will never come back

Life for her has been anything
But peaceful and kind
That's the kind of existence
She hoping to one day find

This all started by trying
A crack pipe one night
So many years later
It still clutches her so tight

The feeling she gets
With every hit
With each passing day
It's harder to quit

But the hold it has on her
Is so strong and tight
There are no tears left for her
To even cry at night

With each new sun rise
Again she must face
Another day of hooking
With demons to chase

The pain left her so long ago
Most days she just feels numb
She's realized that's just life
Living under societys thumb

Sometimes at night
She dreams of death
Ready to take
Her very last breath

It's like a recurring dream
That won't fade away
The ulimate price
She's willing to pay

She sees a life in heaven
Peaceful and pain free
But please don't stand in judgement
Of a life you didn't see


5-29-18/RjH