Obedience

Head down, stay quiet.
Drown out the voices, but do not become defiant.
Follow their words to the letter.
Hold your tongue, hide your gaze.
Soon, it will become better.
Move quickly, do not shuffle about.
Every passing day is a haze
Heeding commands without a doubt
Seizing feelings and locking them up,
And scattering them within a cell.
Truly, this life is hell.
You become ice
While they are a fire
Burning and burning
Melting you
To be molded again and again
And frozen in the night
As a sculpture of their fight.
As you continue on,
remember.
Head down, stay quiet.
Follow their words to the letter.
Hold your tongue, hide your gaze.
Move quickly, do not shuffle about.
If you are defiant
It won’t get better.
Each day is still a haze
So even if you doubt
Even if you shout
Even if you rebel

Headless of your struggles
Each day is the same.
Learn obedience and they’ll
Punish poor you no further.