As old as time
Standing stuck with rusted hinges
The only barrier
between community and isolation
But I am on the outside
And I don’t have a key
I can’t break the heavy padlocks
So I’ll settle for picking off the peeling paint
and squinting through blackened windows
I am a stranger to people
I am all too familiar to loneliness
Beating my fists against cold
Metal caked with faded blue paint
Aching to get out of the darkness
But I still can’t seem to turn the silver handle
On the other side people congregate
and laugh and smile
They get along despite their differences,
a whole system
United
A crowded room with no space left for me
Because I came empty handed
With nothing to give
As I lean against the giant hunk of metal
it creaks sighs or regret
and I give up.