This We Strive For

we were kings and queens molded and cranked out by the public school machine between cement walls we ruled our kingdom stretched before on grimy floor tiles a place I had no fondness for embellished in my memory as kings and queens we strode among slamming locker doors tossed like sailboats in a maelstrom riding the waves of the system waiting with baited breath to be free straining our wings to break through this state mandated cocoon I couldn’t wait until June still this place stirs something within me memories linger in the walls our salad days immortalised by these halls in many ways it was a means to an end recklessly squirreling away our time dizzy from being caught in the eye of the hurricane of our lives but we were not the subjects standing idly off to the side we were not the victims at the mercy of the tide we were the captains at the helm of our dreams molded by ourselves alone we were kings and queens