mutants

condemned children
playing grownup
refusing to let time
rip them to shreds
tiny hearts cast in wax
and tweaked with a blowtorch
when necessary
to reinforce an image
or salvage false dignity

time change
the children change with them;
a new generation born
into pollution
awash in self-loathing
as the drive
themselves
around

carving a niche in a world
already cratered by greed
creating a semblance of self-worth
they beg and pucker
and pay
to be rich
the alternative is much
too embarrassing…