Hillbilly Elegy

for ourselves: Hamburger Helper, TV
dinners, Pop-Tarts, and breakfast cereal.
I’m not sure who paid the bills
(probably Mamaw). We didn’t have a lot
of structure—Lindsay once came home
from work to find me hanging out with a
couple of her friends, all of us drunk—
but in some ways we didn’t need it.
When Lindsay learned that I got the beer
from a friend of hers, she didn’t lose her
cool or laugh at the indulgence; she
kicked everyone out and then lectured
me on substance abuse.
We saw Mamaw often, and she
asked about us constantly. But we both
enjoyed the independence, and I think
we enjoyed the feeling that we burdened