Group Home

I met some folks at work today.

It was my first day at the job.

A fellow staff gave me some keys

Then turned to fill out paperwork.

Now I can unlock chemicals,

But how can I unlock a heart?

A mumbling old lady stared straight

Ignoring the fact I was new.

Another client ran away

Because he thought I meant him harm.

I almost missed the youngest one

Who was playing video games.

I walked into the strangest place;

An indifferent coworker first

A woman who hears voices next

A paranoid person was third

A video-gamer was last.

I didn’t know quite what to think,

So I recalled my training then.

I talked to the grey haired lady,

But she conversed with someone passed.

I knocked on the second man’s door,

But he said to me “go away!”

I tapped on the gamer’s shoulder,

But he slapped me across the face.

Subdued, I resorted to files.

I read into their history.

They locked the poor lady away

Inside a special hospital

After she killed her only child.

She doesn’t know that he is dead.

The fearful man was once a nurse,

Until hard stress disturbed his mind.

I tried to read some of the files

Of that violent youngster right there.

Orphaned, excluded, abandoned.

I just couldn’t finish reading.

They’re victims of systems varied.

I must foster independence,

For that is what I’m paid to do.

Break past the past and broken lives,

Win trust and offer comfort kind.

But this will wait a little while,

Until I’m finished with crying.