Coffee shop walls know it all.

My secrets, wishes and obscure fantasies.

I write in the comfort of their arms. I know these walls can do no harm.

I feel protected.

I know I will not be judged.

I feel in an odd way loved.

In the public eye, People pass me by.

Some whisper, some stare.

There are times when I feel like an outsider within the shadows of this city.

These walls have become my home.

Something I can call my own.

My heart pours out freely onto the paper in front of me.

I am safe. I am free.

-Lily P. McLaughlin-