left with a pencil sans eraser, a paper
denoting, “this is what to do if you feel self
harmful or aggressive.” down from there
a list of things to do in the sanctimonious occasion.

from the hall you can only see rooms
room after room after room
inside, i hear it, the reminder
of where i am.

a girl in a blue sweatshirt smiles
waves. makes polite gestures and suggests
maybe things aren’t awful for everyone
but they are for me.

i recognize her face from somewhere
and i realize there are so many
****** souls here that i used to
only see in dreams.