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Trailer Park Kids

Ava Collopy

Who cares about trailer park kids?

My grandnephew and grandniece at ten and eight
Going over to visit an older childhood friend
He shoved my grandnephew into one room
My grandniece and their young boy friend into another
And tried to convince them to eat something
That was surely drugged—
My grandnephew sensed danger and called for help
On the phone his granddad had leant them
A woman they knew came—with knives and guns

This became a court case but the guilty man
Was not convicted because he was too well-connected
Even with the kids’ grandma saying, “What will you do
When he does it to someone else’s kids,
And you had the chance to stop it?!”
They told her to be quiet or be held in contempt of court
When the man did it again but to a middle class family’s kids
He suffered real consequences

Because nobody cares about trailer park kids
Only rich peoples’ kids mattered.

My too-young niece and her boyfriend split the scene
Over warrants, drugs, and partying
Left her kids in legal limbo with
The grandparents—my sister and brother-in-law to raise them
As they scrambled for a pro bono lawyer to help with custody
I came back from Ireland to...
The odd crack house and child predator
Open secrets in the fishbowl of the small town and the trailer park
And an 18-year-old known child predator walked by
My family’s home and followed my underage grandnephew to the lake...

I went for a pleasant walk through the trailer park
With a pistol in a holster on my hip—
Ready to hand, pleasantly smiling in the sunshine

Word was out and back around to our home
In under 24 hours, and shone through
The smiling eyes of the grandpa at me
Because I will protect my kin and self,
Under threat of losing your life to bullet fire

Because I care about trailer park kids

Because everybody should care about every child

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