She gathered her belongings

Checked her purse for her house keys

She was going outside today

She was gonna see the trees

The colors now were beautiful

The leaves had all now changed

She was going out alone this time

It was going to be strange

She was looking at the painting

Mother nature had laid out

Of reds and golds and browns and such

And so, she chose to venture out

She checked her purse again to see

That her house keys were inside

She was going out by taxi

She was going for a ride

From where she lived she saw no trees

She only saw more walls

In fact she rarely ventured out

She never went out in the halls

For forty years that she'd been here

The neighborhood had switched

From one with houses and nice trees

To one that looked bewitched

She moved here back in sixty two

The new hi-rise on the block

There were parks and it was nicer then

You could go outside and walk

But the years went by and things, they changed

The old houses all came down

New hi-rise buildings all went up

It had become a low-rent town

There were no more parks to go  to

The street lights, most were dark

You couldn't walk alone past five

You no longer heard dogs bark

The gangs moved in, but still she stayed

She wouldn't move, this was her home

Her husband died in ninety four

And now she was alone

She would not leave, this was her place

She was the first one to move in

She wouldn't leave when her Georgie died

And she would not  move for them.

The police checked in on her each week

They begged her not to stay

There were shootings, muggings all that stuff

But each time she told them "Nay"

For eighteen years she'd never left

She'd never been outside

Her groceries were delivered

And every week she'd tried

To leave her little prison, that had become her cell

But every time she tried to leave

She'd look out and she'd see hell

What kind of life did she now live

Where she couldn't see the cars

She'd had two pairs of blackout drapes

And her windows all had bars

It was not what she had started with

But, still it was her home

But she never ventured out of it

She just always stayed alone

At night she'd hear things and she'd cry

to get herself to rest

For once she knew this neighborhood

It was her city's best

But today, she'd made her mind up

She would venture out that door

She would take herself out to the trees

She would go see them once more

once more she checked her handbag

And she found her keys were there

And then she put her purse back down

And she went back to her chair

She'd never go outside again

No trees would she 'ere see

She would stay inside her unit

Behind the bars in five oh three
..