The child’s father gives him fare to hell,
releasing him with cigarettes and cash
to Turk and something starting with an L.
He’s cured of scabies and he’s acting rash.

The adolescent’s daddy is a jerk,
who can’t insist or guide and won’t enjoin
from traveling to Leavenworth and Turk
a 13-year-old toy of Tenderloin.

He’s looking forward to a camping trip
who will not look his present in the face.
He let his child through his fingers slip
who doesn’t even hold himself. No place
is safe for babies when the adults doze,
and who the children are, nobody knows.