Heels clicking, hips swishing

We walk

Down

The

Deserted

Hall,

Fluorescent lights flicker, reflecting in the shiny linoleum floors

Teachers stand stiffly by doors, searching for something,

Anything,

In the throbbing mass that stands, walks, slides, dances

To their next class, another 45 minutes

Of counting down the clock

Tick

Tick

Tick

Couples coyly kiss in stairwells,

Avoiding the prying eyes of the

Lonely, lustful, jealous teachers,

This moment is theirs.

we find havens where we can,

Hole ourselves away from the hideous warehouse of flesh and metal surrounding us

Hoping for heartache, hoping for pain, hoping for a break from the

Tedious monotony that follows us like some slinking snake

Threatening asphyxiation at

Every

Step

Listlessly, we carry on

Faking laughter, faking tears,

We play the pretend game of the high school soap opera,

Desperately futilely fighting with our own ever-present emptiness

Like some great ocean storm that

Circles the slick decks of our consciousness.

Lost and stupid, we kneel and pray for relief.

 

© by Carly Gove.

Used with the author’s permission.