Tam. Death. Tragedy.

Four exposed – to squalor, to violence, to home.

Hunger. Shattered glass. A single mattress.

Talk of termination, of parents, of rights.

Baggies in the freezer, sold from the porch, burned over fire.

Fists. Teeth. Belt buckle.

Teacher attaches a note, pinned to the student, sent to the office.

Enter Principal Franklin, a school psychologist, a licensed social worker.

It was a girl, it happened on the bus, she jumped me.

Bruises. Bus cam. A lie by proxy.

The truth, the reality – momma bit me.

Bites to the cheek, bruises to the arm, lashes to the back.

Fear. Timidity. Please don’t tell.

Back on the bus – to squalor, to death, to home.

Momma stuck Ti-Ti. Now she’s in heaven, as he points to the sky.

Swooped up by police, seized by the state.

Tam. Death. Tragedy.

Nicholas grew up in Rochester, New York and moved to Detroit in 2011 to attend law school at the University of Detroit Mercy. Much of Nicholas' writing is inspired by his time in Detroit and the plight of the impoverished.