There was no real winter in the desert.

As children, we would stair at the sky

And wish that the small white flakes would 

Fall from the heavens and kiss our faces,

Like they did for the children on tv.

There were no friendships that lasted forever.

We would sit in the dirt and throw

Rocks into the dry wash near our house

And watch as all our friends grew up

And left us there in our desert.

There was no white picket fence.

Between us and the barren world stood 

Only barbed wire and wooden posts

That could not even keep dogs out

Of our lonely yard.

We were not the children from tv shows.

There was no loyal dog sitting at our doorstep waiting for us,

There was no door step for us t ostand upon,

There was no "Welcome home",

There was no "I love you."

We were not those people.