I wander aimlessly around the facility,
Every so often passing by a door
Where wailing was audible from the hall.
The wailing I was supposed to ignore
Because the people behind the doors
Are “mislead and need redirection”

I do this every day,
Cherishing the short time
I was permitted release from my
“dorm room” where the mandatory hours
I spent in it were “just like boarding school”

They tell me I should
Think of this place as a
“Home away from home”

Maybe they’re afraid if I complain
The $9000 monthly check that
My mother sold her car to write
Won’t come in anymore.

I wish she didn’t waste her money
On some place supposed to
“Make [me] smile for the rest of my life”
Because after months here
I still feel numb,
And I still feel myself slipping farther away.