Young Writers Society

** I'm not a poet, or at least I don't consider myself to be one. I prefer storywriting but this was a class assignment in which I needed to break out of my comfort zone, which is nowhere near this. So, I need help with stanzas. Are there some that I can get rid of or that don't have to do with the topic? Also, this is supposed to be free verse (my first poem like this) and I wouldn't mind some help with that **

Cigarette lodged between your teeth
Fresh beer can in your hands
You aren't sure just what you're smoking
But you know it clears the air

You mother tries to find work again
Too old and fragile for most
While you take the pay that does come in
And use it for more drugs

Three children with different fathers
Brought into the world bu you
Are left to fend like lions
Since you've fed them to the wolves

Your brother hates every fiber in your being
While your mother cries for help
You sister has attempted assitance
Still you claim there's no one left

Stay out all night partying
Searching for a fix
Spend the whole next day asleep
Leaving your daughter in charge of your sons

Your youngest at six of seven
Has a fuse that burns out quick
God help him when he reaches the age
To act on his decisions

The middle child at seven or eight
Knows the truth already
Escaping through Super Mario Brothers
Into worlds he can repair

Your daughter at eleven
Plays the role you gave up
The mother hen of the family
Every dawn through every dusk

Still you keep inhaling
The fumes that fill your soul
Still you keep drinking
The booze that started it all

Your crutch is mental deficiency
But for those that know you well
Believe there's nothing wrong with you
You just need to come back to yourself