Liberty (July 1, 2017)

Freedom to do

Whatever

Whenever

You want.

Knowing

The restrictive

Institutional rules

Don't apply

Now.

No longer forced

Or viewed

As a child

To be supervised.

And yet

My soul is

Still imprisoned

In need of healing.

As the battle wounds

Are exposed

To the uncompromising glare

Of the morning sun.

Cauterizing 

These putrid black wounds

Long suppressed

Behind mental walls.

Now 

They lay

Upon my soulscape

Like medieval ruins.

In need of

Rebuilding 

And moving forward.

Leaving the lies

In the dark.

Forever more.

Therisa © 2017

Author's note: The fourth chapter poem for A Work, In Progress.

Place Of Lost Hopes (June 24, 2017)

A place

Of last resorts.

Where dreams die

A horrible death

Under the harsh light

Of reality.

As the weaker sheep

Are eaten

By the stronger sharks.

People

That society  

Has tossed away

And forgotten about.

Written off

As losers addicts

And mentally ill.

Where cigarettes are

The walking fold

One measures wealth

On the street.

Dealers hustle

Offering 'food'

To whomever 

Wants it.

As part 

Of the 'Jenny Crack'

Diet plan.

The unpardonable sin:

Showing up early

By 3 minutes

Before the shelter opens

For the afternoon.

By the condo residents

Who live

Across the street

And several floors

Up.

Therisa © 2017

Author's note: How spending a month, in a homeless shelter felt to me (June 3 to July 3, 2007).