Love Poem: The Provider
James Faulkner Avatar
Written by: James Faulkner

The Provider

A pound of lunch meat kool-aid and a pack of crackers
Stretched to fed every mouth and beak in that house
Afterwards she’d scrap crumbs off plates, set aside some for the mouse

When night came the schizophrenia would arise
The struggle of defeat bled through her eyes
Consumed by rage she’d lock and close her door
Fearful eyed children summoned courage to save the woman they adore


They tried and tried to save the woman they loved on the otherside
Their only guide, their joy and pride, yet behind the door is where she would reside
Next morning she’d unfasten her seclusion to find them asleep
Gentle faces she’d see then fall to her knees to weep

She’d rise because rising is what she did
She provide because providing is was for her kids
She love because loving is what she gave
She would rise, provide, and love because she had lives to save