#visuals tho

Remember when people were raw? 
before the men came 
to build these walls
of stone and smiles, 
iron and careless laughter
covering up their eyes? Remember the time 
when the skies were clear, 
before they were clouded 
by the smoke of our tears? Remember when you fell
and you cried 
(we all fell, we all cried) 
and no one made a joke
 about your pussy ass 
to hide themselves? Remember when you 
still played at growing up
 (still wanted to grow up)
 when no one let their mind fly 
just for a moment, free 
and wound up at 3 am 
picturing some pills 
a gun
 and nothing? Remember when you rolled 
down the hill
 and got cut by the grass
 but you did it again
 and no one looked slant-eyed 
at the kids lying in the grass,
 peered through the slits 
between the bars
 asking
 “what’s wrong with it?” Remember the warmth in your bones 
standing under a window
when the sun comes through? 
Of course not. 
The windows have bars
 and cinder block walls behind them 
and it’s been so long since
 you saw the sky 
that maybe, 
it was only a dream. 
Perhaps those bars 
have always been there 
isolating your soul from what lies behind 
those empty grey eyes. –PK