Who the hell said
you could keep
a 12 year old boy
locked in a bed
for over a year
stuck with his head
and all the thoughts
he seems to dread

"No touching no contact no hugs"
       "Okay fine whatever"

But secretly we talk
through the walls we knock
and then before I walk
to go home
we hug
I get a note
a sad smiley face where her wrote
"I will miss you"
but the words stuck in my throat because I wasn't sure if he would learn to
    float

or drown in his mind
where the monsters live
but they don't protect him
instead they give
thoughts of blood guts violence....
loneliness
hopelessness
abandonment
anxiety
sadness
­desperation

how will he escape?

maybe he won't

he'll give in
and settle with
the names scratched on the window
in glasses, pencils, paperclips
the bulletproof glass
always taunting and teasing
but never releasing
never pleasing
only squeezing
until he's wheezing
his last breath
finally leaving