we were
latchkey
degenerates
forced to
figure out
how to take
care of
ourselves
no supervision
just repercussions
if we got caught
when there was
no one around
to even bother

we grew up
nearly feral
the children
of children
we would leave
in the morning
only to stumble
back into bed
as close to
truly free as
any creatures
roaming the earth

communicating
through notes left
on the counter
instructions
oft ignored
savages on bikes
inflicting chaos
on a world filled
with undefined order
we didn’t care
didn’t have to
there was no one
home to make us
a hazardous haze
of chemicals
on top of an
overdose of hormones
unrestrained by
these new social norms

latchkey punks
unaware of the true
brutality of life
unsupervised agents
of destruction
scars make far
better reminders
than a photo could
ever aspire to
bred to not give
any fucks at all
then constrained by
a world we were
never really part of