He felt humiliated
When asked not to read
The poem he wrote
That described his pain,
He need not have.
He forgot each one of us
Had a tale to tell
Of unique torture and pain.
His pain they knew to be
Of the deprived.
They had seen him,
His head bent low,
Languish on the beach
Picking and rejecting seashells
And then
Draw patterns with his toes
On the wet sand.