There Is Still Hope Poem by Far Lapenna

You waltz down rotten avenues
The slap resounds off the street walls.
As you round the corner you see them.
A pair of siblings, the younger and older.
He slaps her, she clutches her cheek.
Tears welling up as he scurries in shame.
Away to find comfort in a cigarette.
Her mother finds her moments later.
No questions, no tuts, and then leaves.
To retrieve a damp cloth to wipe away the pain.
She grasps her daughter’s hand.
Staring her in the eye, and says to not.
Let something like that prevent her.
From her future