Poem

A Heavy Price

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Only Murders In My Mind
Weekly Writing Prompt #79 and the
photo prompt shown below.
Here’s where the image took me.

Image from Mike Jackson @ Only Murders In My Mind

Cracked pavement, sun-baked skin,
a city sighs, but no wind.
Brick walls bleed stories,
of dreams lost, and faded glories.

Mama’s prayers, a whispered plea,
for sons escaping, wild and free.
But freedom costs, a heavy price,
dice rolls echo, laced with vice.

Empty stomachs, hollow eyes,
searching hope beneath grey skies.
A hustle hard, to make ends meet,
violence blooming on the street.

Sirens wail a mournful song,
another spirit gone too long.
Survival’s dance, a weary fight,
living shadows in the pale moonlight.

NAR©2025

This is “In The Ghetto” by Elvis Presley

Weekly Writing Prompt

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21 thoughts on “A Heavy Price”

    1. You know, the homeless are now being called “the unhoused”. Give me a fucking break! Quit calling unpleasant situations less offensive names and call it what it is. Then fix it. This is a problem that can be fixed more readily than most. It’s all about the bucks and the fat fucks who never put their money where their mouths are. It’s infuriating.

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  4. The city has its plusses and minuses but being poor in the city limits access to resources. You will probably live in substandard housing that are concentrated poverty areas, and experience difficulty affording basic necessities, which is bound to increase your stress, and potentially expose you to higher crime rates. I loved your poem and the Elvis tune, Nancy.

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