A word that means

Only what it demands

Yet when from us torn

It aches before it scars

Inside the mind is a steadfast cage

But out there is the money that flows in these veins

I

Like a serpent winds around its prey

Swallows it whole before it awakes

From playing dead it can’t afford to escape

This lonely place full of broken dreams

Broken spirits

Broken lives—

Yet these people stand tall against all odds

Missing their hopes

Their homes

Their friends

Their dogs and cats and parakeets

Their jobs

Their families

Their comfort sounds and piano keys

We walk together and declaim our lives

Like storybook tales till the end of time

Beyond these walls we know not what lies

But I hope at least I can write out mine