The Son (a poem about the struggle of a boy)

Son (ciaksi)

The gravel road
winds its way like a snake
through the hills to the homes
of the Innu people who have
lived there for one hundred years.

Worn houses dot
the land in a similar fashion
with broken windows and sagging
porches in need of repairs that will
never be completed.

On grey days
the despair creeps its
way into the lives of children
caught in vague attempts to
find meaning.

Alcohol, drugs and
violence become ways
of interpretation that blind
and confuse reality.

On one such
grey day in a home
on a hill overlooking
the peaceful bay the pain
became too much to bear.

Her son who was her hope and
joy, found a quiet place, and with a bicycle chain, kinked it
around his neck, and stepped off the chair.     

 ---Todd Sojonky 2005