The “Smell” of Poverty
Poverty smells like dirt. It smells as if there’s dirty laundry all around because no one can afford laundry detergent. Poverty smells like old cooked food from a two burner stove that had hamburger grease in a pan on it for weeks. Poverty smells like expired lunch meat that hasn’t been refrigerated all week long. Poverty smells like damp mold all around. It’s from a flat roof that hasn’t been repaired in years so the water comes in from the rain all around.
Poverty also smells like bad hygiene. It’s from a lack of water that has been turned off because no one could pay the bill and this leads to terrible body odor. Poverty smells like a cremated body that has been spread on top of the molded ground. Poverty is the polluted smell of the air we breathe in every day.
Poverty smells like a crusted day old apple pie that has been left out to dry. Poverty smells like an unchanged diaper on a homeless child whose mother doesn’t care for her properly. Poverty smells like diving in fast foods dumpsters looking for leftovers that are already decaying. Poverty smells like a dirty old rag that hasn’t been cleaned in days. Poverty smells like a chicken coop on a mid summer day. Poverty smells like exhaust from cars racing by and from the odor of the gun firing off from drivebys on a daily basis. Poverty smells like tennis shoes that have been worn with no socks for 14 days while running a marathon. It is the most potent smell that could be released in a ceremony.
Poverty smells like a drenched rain coat left out in the rain that has a fishy smell. Poverty smells like fish guts that are left out in the yard with maggots all on it. Poverty smells like the maggots in my trashcan when I have old leftovers in the trashcan.