Men in black guarded the gates
Leading to where they call hell
A large building with corridors
Rooms that waste hours of time
The men shut the black gates
From behind my shaking back
I start my day's sentence

I'm in the winding corridors
Hearing a young girl cry far away
Another few words of hate
Tossed at her pretty face as usual
Yet the headmaster doesn't care

A boy is walking nearby me
He has a black eye and a nose
Streaming a waterfall of blood
His body littered with bruises
Another one suffering from abuse
From fellow prison immates
And his own kindly parents
Yet the teachers don't care
What kind of educators are they?

We learn things we already knew
Is brainwashed into forgetting
Our fractions and subtracting
Turning into loneliness and dread
And adding our depression levels
Dividing our energy down
And multiplying our confusion

Panic attacks our brains and
We don't know what's coming
A test by writing a story
An essay or even a ramble
Or knowing scientific facts
That we probably won't need
Apart from if you like science

I stare out the window
Dreaming of a classroom
Filled with freedom and love
Songs and poetry and dancing
Playing with words
Not planning a story before
We touch the ****** pen

But now we are birds in cages
Ready to sing our song
As the old writer in his chair says

“ how can a bird born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing? ”

But what is the answer?
No one knows

I'm sitting in my usual corner
Of the coffee shop in town
The morning's come
The day has begun
So where's the singing birds?

It's a very quiet morning
Only three cars passed by
A black Nissan Pick Up truck
A siver Honda car
And a truck heading to the south
To give us our supplies
That the farmers and poor make
Just for us
But get no credit or coin

I'm looking around and I see
Five people in the room
Six if you count the homeless man
Staring through the window
A black Labrador next to him
He's staring at me

The man in the corner
Has several wrinkles
Maybe 50? 60? 70?
He's got very milky coffee
Next to the newspaper he has
He's looking at the crossword
And raging with silent curses
That he thinks no one can hear
But if you look in his eyes
You see the frustration in them

A female teenager
She's staring at me
What is she jealous of now?
I really don't know what.
She's just glancing
Staring and glancing
As she sips her vanilla mocha
With her long hot pink nails
And sighs with her ruby red lips
You see jealousy in her green eyes
So sharp and cat like
You can almost smell it

There's a woman in her thirties
She is still smoking and puffing
And putting her ashes in the tray
' another interaction with cancer '
I think as she stares into space
If you look into her chocolate eyes
The same colour as her tea
She's thinking very deeply
As I am right now

There's a man at the coffee bar
Whistling away
He's cleaning up the desk
Waiting for the next customer
Waiting for the new order
Then he will make their drink
Make a working man smile
And a tired mother laugh
But it's not helping the man
The homeless one outside
Yet when you look into his eyes
His bright hazel will show
Happiness and joy

There's a guy in the corner
Listening to some music
With his black coffee on
I sit with him
Even though he's misjudged
And he flashes me a smile
As his black and purple hair
Is tossed around by his hand

" you've been writing a lot, love "
He smiles as he stops his songs

" I know. " I reply.

I see him everyday
He's going through something
Sad and tough
And when you look at his eyes
A deep greyish blue
He's had enough of it

" are you sad? " I whisper
Looking at him
He turns away with tears
They're welling up in his eyes

" it's ok, " I smile
And pat his shaking shoulder
" you're never alone.
I'm your friend "

He looks at me in the eyes
My observant and gentle eyes
They show comfort when I see him
Smiling at long last

I soon have to go.
Places to be
Places to go

" see you tomorrow "
He smiles at me

" see you soon! "
I smile back at him

I make sure to get a take away
A plain coffee with a packet
Of sweet smelling sugar
I give it to the homeless man
You should've seen the
Joy and happiness in his eyes!