We used to hear it all the time:
Can you come outside and play?

We heard that chant throughout the hood,
From screened back doors where our friends stood.
Calling just when time was right,
For Hide and Seek at the dawning night,
Or Hopscotch, Double Dutch
Kick the Can,
On neighbour's lawns and sidewalks,
On streets, driveways or city parks.

My daughter got a text today:
Can you come to my house and play?

Mom and Dad,
Siblings,
Family,
Love,
Safety and some place to go to,
Things most have.

Happiness is safety,
Like a place to go home to,
During a war there is no home,
No safety,
Not even love.


Sometimes this war is depression,
A long battle,
Difficult to overcome in its entirety,
Like every war,
Depression is something you can’t fight on your own,

Some things in the war remind you of what it was like,
What it was like before the war,
They give moments of clarity,
They show you what you’re fighting for.

These things can be simple as a smile,
A goodbye,
A compliment,
Or as important as,
A long meaningful talk,
A good hug.

When you receive these,
The battle is easier to fight for a moment,
So please give it to others,
Share the clarity,
Win a war.

Please let me stay
Right here
Where the faces
Are not shadows
But instead
Filled with light

Leave me be
To observe a memory
Or indulge in a thought
So my joy
Will forever
Thrive within

The pain has vanished
The fear finally fled
So why must it be
Sent back to me?

An upper floor apartment, a square
where I am safe, not to be robbed
from anything, with internet
and a sofa bed

it is the way of life

of my friends-of:
come, don’t do anything stupid
then you will be fine again
the storm will rage out

while you are in our square

Maybe I'll find a way
for myself, an area outside
where I find satisfaction
and yes, what you say

a calm inside

‪Have ‬
‪You‬
‪Ever‬
‪Cried‬
‪Just‬
‪Because ‬
‪You ‬
‪Don’t‬
‪Feel‬
‪Safe ‬
‪Because‬
‪Of‬
‪Who ‬
‪You‬
‪Are?‬.

I wish to leave this place,
If only in mind,
The same way I save my self,
The same way I decline.