drawn

They said it would never work

just another urban school        

hopeless, forgotten

a waste of time.

Colorless scenes of HUD houses

sit half-empty across from the school.

Children live there                 

move away                 

new families move in

like the freshly repaired garden

strangers pull apart in the dark.

And in the morning, children walk past

tangled heaps—roots, flowers unearthed

yet again.

a cruel cycle that never ends

Twelve failing years—

Principals spin on a turnstile

companies take over        

another three years of failure.

New faces                 

same story                 

senseless epidemic

Children are present everywhere…but here.

Clad in blue and white prison uniforms        

white bobby socks for girls

slender clip-on neckties for boys.

Walls are stripped, bare, beige—

institutional

Visitors are met with eerie silence

Children walk in shadows—

prisoners in pairs.

Older children escort the younger.

Discipline cards stuffed

in oversized shirt pockets

stained with grape juice, crayons

There is no running, no laughter        

children learn here without sound

or voice.