The Tower

Cutting paper into snowflakes
while the T.V. lights the room,
gray from the static.
The floor is a block of ice on their
bare feet while they chase the heat
of numbing pills locked behind a cage.
The jackets there absorb their rage,
and they roll around on the floor
like rockstars on a stage.
Doing anything they could to end the hug.
Across the wall they watch a bug
it has a skull shaped pattern on the fat
part of its back, but the fun is done when
someone tries to eat it.
The have forbidden sex in the corners
of the yard and when they’re caught
they get hosed off like feral cats.
Making friends with all the putrid rats,
their names are known by everyone
that lives there.
The youngest didn’t take things well
she heard things from the depths of hell.
She took the rook while playing chess,
and swallowed it sideways
so it caught in her chest.
The doctors there all did their best,
but nothing could be done for anyone
of them.