a chain link fence

                                surrounds us in the yard                                                                                    

                                the guards stand watch

                                      a diffident distance

                                                  away                                            

                                heavy screens bar

                                      all the windows   

                                      no patients are screaming

                                           out of them today                                                                                                                                                          

                                 there is a momentary calm

                                         perhaps a portent

                                         of impending

                                         doom                            

                                         perhaps a pause                                              

                                         to breathe hope

                                         into our futures  

                                                             maybe   

                                                             both

by Anonymous