A once knew a young man and a woman
The woman made her living
Built her house
With foster children, two who were deaf
Ran a storefront on weekend nights 
For troubled youth

And said she would slap my daughter, 4, for her “look”  

The young man, bought a house near hers on the corner
And made the mistakes of asking her to keep
Her kids from riding their bikes across his lawn
And smoking a joint on his back deck  

The woman and her neighbors
Harassed the young man by proxy
Calling the cops about strange smells and odd lights
Until a SWAT team showed up

He was busted for a grow light over some orchids
A kitchen scale, some sandwich baggies
and a quarter ounce of weed
He beat the rap but lost his job and his house  

She stood in my living room on the night before we moved
In a beautiful paisley dress and peasant blouse
And denied it